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Jacob Davis, a skilled tailor, wanted to patent his idea of using long-lasting copper rivets on denim pockets; he then approached Levi Strauss to collaborate on a joint patent as he couldn’t afford it alone. They acquired the patent on 20 May 1873, thus marking the beginning of the most lucrative deal and production in fashion history - Denim. Levi's became an iconic jeans symbol of crossing all sections of society and timelines. The brand survived two world wars, the great depression, and evolving fashion scenarios, making it synonymous with equality and freedom of expression. Let us look at Levi’s history from a cowboy’s apparel to a multi-billion dollar fashion empire.
In 1950 alone, Levi's had produced 95 million pairs of jeans, which cost approximately $3.50 a pair. By 2019, the iconic jeans brand filed to go public at an estimated $6.6 billion valuation.
The Phenomenal History Of Levi’s
According to Beyond Retro, the phenomenal fashion brand Levi's was founded in 1873 by a German Jewish immigrant named Levi Strauss. As a wholesale dealer, he sold everything from lanterns, shovels, shoes, and jackets to blue denim dungarees. The dungarees were especially popular among Western cowboys. Interestingly in 1872, he received an offer letter from one of his clients, Mr. Jacob Davis. The two business-minded gentlemen patented a lucrative deal of a lifetime. Using brass rivets on the revolutionary blue canvas for the first time gave birth to an unconventional and timeless fashion statement - Denim Jeans. Their patent to use brass rivets was granted on 20 May 1873.
It became an iconic symbol of the working class. With time, Davis added another legendary trademark on the classic piece of cloth - a leather patch with the brand’s perennial logo. It was a drawing of two horses trying to pull apart a pair of jeans. Thus, the mass branding of the renegade fashion statement began. Till the early 1960s, denim jeans were known as waist overalls. The journey of Levi Strauss & Co. from being a common overall to an established signature brand of denim wear had just begun.
Surviving The Great Depression
According to Khaleej Times, it was an icon of struggle and hardships before denim acquired its trendy name and a featured place in the young generation's wardrobe. The company archives are filled with customer letters received throughout the Great Depression when people used only one pair of these classic overalls for years. The working-class laborers, including the hardworking farmers, could afford only a few denim overalls. Life magazine photographers popularized the idea of these blue overalls among the masses with their widespread cover photos documented during the Great Depression era.
The blue fabric caught the fancy of the younger generation through the glamorous films The Wild One (1953) and Giant (1957). Hollywood stars like Marlon Brando and James Dean popularized denim outfits among the raging, rebellious youth of the 60s. The Levi's company capitalized on this new trend and swapped the age-old adage of overalls into a modern word - Jeans. Thus, blue denim jeans became relevant to the youth who adopted this fashion style as a lifetime uniform of freedom and a classic wardrobe symbol. A pair of washed-out jeans became the norm for college kids and music icons. During this time, the profit margins of Levi Strauss & Co. grew tenfold, from an estimated $100 million a year to approximately $1 billion turnover.
How Levi's Spread Its Wings Globally
From humble beginnings as XX waist overalls in 1853 in San Francisco, it’s astonishing how the brand has expanded to more than 110 countries worldwide. The billion-dollar fashion brand is estimated at a net worth of $6.8 billion today. According to Finance Online, Levi Strauss & Co. is one of the wealthiest fashion brands in the world, registering an estimated $5 billion in profits annually. The company has managed to dominate the fast fashion scene with a chain of department stores, top-quality retailers, and online sites by staying in sync with the latest trends.
According to Business of Fashion, the international fashion retail brand is gearing up to take the e-commerce world by planning to revolutionize fabric technology, open new stores, and invest in digital sources. Keeping in mind the mood of dressing comfortably after the pandemic, Levi's has introduced more baggy and loose-fitted denim pants for the younger generation. It has laid out strategies to capitalize on the hybrid working class by opening more denim outlets in major cities of the world and making its presence felt in the e-commerce sector. These excessive business plans by Levi Strauss and Co. executives are bound to propel the legendary denim company toward massive profit margins of $9 to $10 billion annually by 2027.
With a boundless demographic customer base and innovative fashion solutions, Levi Strauss and Co. has achieved an unmatched competitive edge over its rivals. It continues to grow as a successful multinational company with billions of dollars in turnover.
Sources: Beyond Retro, Khaleej Times, Finance Online, Business of Fashion