An old house in Buttenheim, a small town in Franconia. The ceilings are low and the wooden floor creaks. Levi Strauss was born here, a man who 150 years ago in USA filed a patent for the work pants that became the jeans we all know. He was the son of a poor itinerant Jewish merchant from Upper Franconia and became a successful businessman in America.

The Strauss family had a difficult life and no career prospects. At that time, many Jews immigrated to the United States. This also applied to Levi Strauss’ older siblings, who were later followed by his mother and younger siblings. In 1848 they arrived in the USA. From quiet Buttenheim to the hustle and bustle of New York, says Tanya Roppelt, head of the Lévi-Strauss Museum in Buttenheim.

The birth of the genie

The family ran a successful textile wholesale business. When news began to spread of gold discoveries in the western United States, he decided to go to San Francisco and open a branch there. Together with tailor Jacob Davis, Strauss finally applied for a patent on May 20, 150 years ago. This was the birth of the famous Levis brand..

Little is known about Levi Strauss, since in 1906, during a strong earthquake in San Francisco, the company building and many documents were destroyed. “That’s why little is known about him,” says Tanya Ropelt. “He was fair and gave a lot of money to charity. Above all, education was important to him. Even then, half of the scholarships went to women,” she says.

His jeans, on the other hand, have become famous. Today they are in every wardrobe. They are worn in offices and services. Even members of the royal families wear them, like William and Kate. Fashion magazines dedicate countless pages to whether they should be wide, short, or long. The once-durable work pants are now in demand and trendy. In the 1930s, Vogue introduced the first women’s jeans.

Always in fashion

Since it was invented and patented in 1873, denim has never gone out of fashion, it is in demand, and it is literally sewn all over the world.

Denim is on the rise again today, says Carl Tillesen of the German Fashion Institute. It is also a fabric that plays an important role in sustainability and recycling. There is no other product with such high fabric uniformity that can be reused. There is a huge amount of used jeans that can be cut up again and sold.

Back in Buttenheim and the museum, where director Tanya Roppelt says civil marriage is even possible, “some couples come in jeans.”

Source: Deutsche Welle.