View information about Levi Strauss. You can view the history of the Levi Strauss brand and their impact on branding.

Levi Strauss

Levi Strauss

The story of Levi Strauss:

The company name and logo have been synonymous with a pair of jeans for more than 160 years. But the story that it began way back in the days of the California Gold Rush is an urban legend.

This popular clothing brand got its start when a man named Levi Strauss…

Levi Strauss

…a native of Bavaria, Germany, moved west from New York to San Francisco, with an idea of opening a West Coast branch of his brothers’ dry goods business.

Levi started the apparel business with the help of Jacob Davis…

Jacob Davis

…a tailor from Reno, Nevada, who bought denim from Levi Strauss on a wholesale basis.

Davis had a customer who kept buying patches to repair torn pants, so Davis came up with an idea to use copper rivets to reinforce the pants at stress points, like pocket corners. But Davis didn’t have money for a patent, and Levi did, so they became partners and secured their patent.

They then made the reinforcements part of their product design, starting in 1870, long after the days of the ‘49ers and other Gold Rush workers.

Levi Strauss Patch Levi Strauss Patch

Their first pair of 501 Jeans…

Levi 501 jeans

...were produced in the 1890’s and eventually became the world’s best-selling clothing item.

Jeans’ popularities grew over the early years of the twentieth century, but really hit their stride in the 1950’s and 1960’s.

1950's Levis advertisement

The casual dress codes of the 1970’s and the “stone washed” look also helped Levi’s growth.

The company’s current day headquarters is still in San Francisco…

Levis headquarters

…in the aptly named Levi’s Plaza.

And the local 49ers of the National Football League play their home at games at Levi’s Stadium…

Levi Stadium

…in nearby Santa Clara.