Levi Strauss
Levi Strauss (1829–1902): Denim
Levi Strauss (1829-1902) was an American businessman who was the first to manufacture blue jeans. He settled in California during the Gold Rush, and in 1853 he established Levi Strauss & Co. in San Francisco, California as a dry goods store catering to miners. Jacob Davis, a Strauss customer, invented the riveted denim work pants familiar to us today. Davis and Strauss went into business together to produce blue jeans, receiving a patent for the denim pants in 1873. Mr. Strauss created the Levi Strauss Foundation in 1897 with a donation to the University of California, Berkeley.