Don't take for granted that this post is going to deal with fashion. Well, it DOES deal with fashion but it also has to do with the Gold Rush, with denim, with a pair of jeans and with the American Dream. But let's take it bit by bit!
One of the most famous migrations in the 19th century took place in the United States. Workers form all parts of the country, and from Europe too, came to the west coast looking for gold. The idea of becoming rich was the lure for many whose will to answer the call was so strong as to travel to the antipodes if necessary.
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Apart from being workers, gold miners became settlers, that is, they were the inhabitants of the new frontier. They transmitted the values of the civilized world and established a society based on strict puritan behaviour. Their working conditions were -without a doubt- wretched.
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| Portsmouth Square, San Francisco, during the Gold Rush, 1851 |
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| Gold Rush miners |
In this environment, Löb Strauss arrived in San Francisco after having crossed the Atlantic from Germany to New York with his widow mother and sisters. He was decided to make quick profit by selling supplies to miners. "Overalls" or "waist overalls", as jeans were called at that time, were part of the workers' outfit. They were meant to be resistant but, on the contrary, they were not long-lasting nor resistant.
Jacob Davis, a taylor from Nevada, developed an original idea to make working overalls resistant. He suggested it to Löb Strauss (later Levi) and the fisrt pair of Levi's saw the light!! They were made of denim, which they imported from Nimes (France). Denim was the traditional fabric for workwear in those days, and later they dyed it indigo blue.
Eventually, they added the rivet which makes them resistant and durable.
They are also considered one of the boundless symbols of the USA. Have a look at the Bruce Springsteen cover of his Born in the USA album.
Today, Levi's is directly connected to advertisement. Here, we have selected one of the best commercials. What do you think?
Or, maybe, you feel like watching the last one:
So, as you can imagine Levi Strauss became a millionaire and his business is still alive and kicking!! In fact, it is a very profitable business all over the world.
Levi is one of the countless examples of people who achieve the so-called American Dream; that is, he represents the self-made man, the inmigrant looking for a new beginning in a land where everything is possible if you work hard. It seems as if he had followed Crevecoeur's words when he was referring to the pioneers, to the first American settlers and what the States meant to them: "Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men, whose labours and posterity will one day cause great changes in the world. . . . An immigrant when he first arrives . . . no sooner breathes our air than he forms new schemes, and embarks in designs he never would have thought of in his own country. . . "
In short, watch this last video just in case you have not understood the story:
