Levi Strauss, a young immigrant from
Germany, arrived in San Francisco in 1850, California was in the middle of the
Gold Rush. Thousands of men were coming to California to dig for gold. And Levi
Strauss came to sell canvas to these gold miners. Canvas is a heavy fabric. So
Levi Strauss thought the miners could use the canvas for tents. One day Strauss
heard a miner complain that he couldn't find clothes strong enough for the work
he was doing. Strauss got an idea. He quickly took some of his canvas for
One day Strauss heard a miner complain
that he couldn't find clothes strong enough for the work he was doing. Strauss
got an idea. He quickly took some of his canvas and made it into pants. These
pants were what the miners needed. In one day Strauss sold all the pants he had
Strauss wanted to improve his pants. He
wanted to make them even better. He bought a fabric that was softer than canvas
but just as strong. This fabric came from Nimes, a city in France, and was
cailed serge de Nimes. The miners liked this fabric. They called it
"denim" (from de Nimes) and bought even more pants from Strauss.
However, denim had no color. Because of
this the denim pants did not look very interesting, and they got dirty easily.
To solve these problems, Strauss dyed the denim blue.
Strauss continued to improve his jeans.
Today, the company he started is known around the world. And jeans are
considered not just practical but very fashionable as well.