Denim is so timeless it’s easy to assume it’s always been here. Was there ever a time before jeans? Was the denim jacket ever NOT cool? Turns out the same sturdy grit we look for in our denim is exactly why it has such staying power.
The Origin of Denim
It will come as no surprise to haute couture loving fashionistas that denim got its start in France, the city of Nimes to be exact. Serge de Nimes means essentially “twill fabric of Nimes” and it’s an easy jump from “de Nimes” to “denim”.
When Italian textile manufacturers attempted to recreate the cotton-based serge de Nimes they didn’t get it quite right, but their process bore the fabric we associate with denim today.
And why BLUE denim? Because indigo dye was one of the most readily available colors at the time.
But this is all just set-up.
A New Pair of Jeans
While denim became a well-known fabric for years, it wasn’t until 1853 that the sturdy blue jeans we know and love were invented.
Levi Strauss was a dry goods seller who sold denim to tailor Jacob W. Davis. Upon a request for a more durable pair of pants as workwear, Davis created a design that reinforced key areas of the pants with copper rivets. With demand surging for his new design, he went into business with Levi Strauss and the rest is history.
The modern jeans were here.
Denim Becomes Legend
So now we’ve got the sturdy denim and jeans we know and love, but why do we STILL love them?
Well, they’re cool. But they weren’t always.
Until World War II, jeans were work clothes, plain and simple. Nothing fashionable about them.
It was actually a combination of three stereotypes colliding in ‘40s and ‘50s culture that gave jeans their mythical status.
The Tough-As-Nails Cowboy of the American West galloping into dusty legend.
The American G.I. on leave abroad, spreading the style to our allies in the war.
And the Rebel-Without-A-Cause look of down-to-earth heartthrobs like James Dean and Marlon Brando on-screen.
What did these three stereotypes have in common? Besides being cool-under-pressure, strong, and quintessentially American? They all wore blue jeans.
Modern Denim
So where could denim go from there? It’s already a mainstay, uber-cool, and sturdy-as-hell.
Like any cool fashion, it was bound to get adopted by new crowds and remixed by future generations.
Denim seemed to reach a peak in the ‘80s and ‘90s with acid wash, cutoffs, and full denim outfits.
Not to be outdone, the early 2000s saw huge flares, very low rise jeans, patchwork denim, and intentional distressing.
Since then denim and jeans have cleaned up their act and rolled up their cuffs a bit. More tailored, more intentionally styled with a return in popularity of the original indigo wash jeans.
Denim is a staple of almost everyone’s wardrobe. It’s casual, it’s semi-formal, it’s in every color and style. It’s here to stay, but we’re looking forward to where it might go next.
