The legend of Levi Strauss
An exhibition in San Francisco shows how American denim conquered the world
HE WAS BORN in a Bavarian village in 1829, fleeing anti-Semitism with his family at 17. From New York he caught a steamer to California, a newly minted American citizen, with a view to expanding the family’s dry-goods business. But these were the heady days of the Gold Rush, and the young man dreamed of making it big. His initiative paid off so well that you may be wearing his invention now: his name was Levi Strauss.
This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Rhapsody in blue”
From the February 22nd 2020 edition
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