An old half-timbered house in the small Franconian town of Buttenheim near Bamberg, the ceilings are low, the wooden floor creaks. This parlor has a lot to do with one of the most famous pieces of clothing in the world. Levi Strauss was born here, the man who filed a patent for riveted work trousers in the USA 150 years ago. From the son of a poor Jewish itinerant merchant from Upper Franconia to a successful businessman in the American west – it is a story that has been told many times and is always fascinating. And it starts right here in the living room in Buttenheim.
From Buttenheim to San Francisco
As members of a Jewish rural community, the Strauss family did not have it easy, they had hardly any professional opportunities. Many Jews emigrated to the USA at the time. So did the older siblings of Levi Strauss, who was still called Löb at the time. The mother and younger siblings followed later. They arrived in the USA in 1848 – “from tranquil Buttenheim” to the hustle and bustle of New York, as Tanja Roppelt, head of the Levi Strauss Museum in Buttenheim, says.
The family successfully ran a textile wholesale business there. When news of gold discoveries in the western United States increased, Levi went to San Francisco to set up a branch there. Together with the tailor Jacob Davis, Strauss finally registered a patent for riveted trousers on May 20, 150 years ago, and the famous Levi’s brand was born.
Not much is known about Levi Strauss, the man behind the success story. Because in 1906, during a severe earthquake in San Francisco, company buildings and many documents were destroyed. “That’s why we don’t know very much about him,” says Roppelt. He was fair and gave a lot of money to charity. Above all, education was important to him. Even then, half of the scholarships he donated went to women.
From work trousers to popular clothing
On the other hand, we know very well what happened to jeans, since today they are in every wardrobe – even babies wear them, and teenagers anyway. In offices or authorities, jeans are now part of the accepted outfit. And when the heir to the British throne, William and Kate, pose casually in jeans on official photos, this is discussed, but is seen as more likeable than a royal break in style. Fashion magazines regularly write about whether the waistband should be extra low for the season or whether the leg should be cut comfortably wide (“extra wide leg”).
At some point, work trousers also became a popular item of clothing outside of the gold mining towns. In the 1930s, Vogue presented the first women’s jeans. “Then the triumphant march could no longer be stopped,” says Roppelt. “Timeless” is such a pair of jeans. Styles in fashion changed rapidly. But the jeans stay.
This is also how you see it at the German Fashion Association: “Jeans are and will remain the stuff fashion dreams are made of,” says spokeswoman Tanja Croonen. «Jeans in all their variations, cuts and styles have never gone out of style since they were invented and patented in 1873.» Denim fabrics can be found in almost every manufacturer’s collection and are “loved and bought” by customers. Denim is a perennial favorite among materials and is in demand and produced worldwide.
Carl Tillessen from the German Fashion Institute (DMI) has observed that the importance of jeans is currently increasing again. If the topic of jeans has become almost a little boring recently and people have opted for more classic cuts, the 90s are now celebrating a comeback – and jeans are the material from which «everything possible» is made: «dresses, cargo pants, skirts , A coat”. The ablutions should also be more extreme. And a complete outfit made of jeans? Totally hip now, while a while ago only part of the outfit was supposed to be made out of denim. According to Tillessen, the designer Glenn Martens (Diesel, Y/Project) is currently regarded as the “worldwide driving force behind innovations in the denim sector”.
Denim and sustainability
Denim also plays an important role in the debates about sustainability and upcycling. No other product has such a large amount of homogeneous material that can be reused. There is an “incredible amount” of used jeans that can be cut up and reassembled.
Back to Buttenheim, where a museum dedicated to Levi Strauss and the brand’s jeans has been established around the parlors with the low ceilings. You can even have a civil marriage in the Levi Strauss Museum, says Tanja Roppelt: “Some couples even come in jeans.”(dpa)