American and Japanese denim: the origins
The origins of denim
Most likely, each of you has a pair of jeans in your closet, but very few know the origins of this iconic garment famous all around the world. The history of American and Japanese denim as we know them today begins in the 15th century in Europe. Chieri in Piedmont and Nimes in France were the first two cities to start the production of denim, a type of fabric ideal for work clothes , very durable, with interlacing of blue moleskin. It was the city of Nimes that gave its name to denim: De Nimes, the original place of that product. The name jeans derives from the French Blue de Genes, blue of Genoa, because it is from the Ligurian port that the merchants exported the goods all over the world. The difference between the two words lies in the fact that denim indicates the type of fabric, while jeans indicates the model of trousers that has become iconic with the use of that fabric. But even though the origins of denim are linked to France and Italy, two other countries were to bring this garment to the fore on a global scale: the United States and Japan .
American Denim
In the United States at the beginning of the nineteenth century the “gold fever” was growing and prospectors needed sturdy and resistant clothing . To satisfy this need, many entrepreneurs of the time began to produce work clothes such as jackets, aprons and trousers made with denim fabric from Europe. Between the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, various tailoring changes were applied: copper rivets to reinforce the pockets, the pocket for watches and coins, a second back pocket, a zip instead of buttons and finally belt loops. Thanks to these innovations millions of people began to wear denim, it was no longer only workers or gold diggers, but ordinary people as well . Shortly thereafter, it also arrived in Europe, thanks to American soldiers who, after winning the war, wore them proudly around the cities and to visiting American tourists.Levi’s
Levi’s is without a doubt the most famous jeans brand in the world. The history of the company begins in the mid-19th century when a young German entrepreneur, Löb Strauß, goes to the United States with a suitcase full of fabrics of European origin , including the Nimes one. A few years later Löb, now fully integrated into American society, moved to San Francisco where the “gold fever” had brought thousands of workers in search of fortune.
Meeting the needs of gold diggers, he perfected denims, making them more durable and adding reinforced rivets thanks to the help of tailor Jacob Davis. Thanks to these changes, the pockets did not unravel due to the weight of the metal tools used in the mine. In 1873 he registered the Levi Strauss & Co brand along with his brothers, starting a glorious history that continues to this day. What makes Levi’s unique and unmistakable is the double arch quilting in the back pockets and the red tab , the small red label sewn along the edge of the pocket, in addition to the leather patch with the depiction of the two horses, designed by Levi’s nephew. .
Lee
Henry David Lee was an entrepreneur active in the field of oil and then agriculture. He knew the business well and understood how important it was for workers to wear high-quality, comfortable, and durable clothing . This was not always possible though, due to both the lack of products and the enormous demand. So in 1911 he made a coverall for farmers, made of denim. It was called Union-All and was very practical and resistant, suitable for all types of manual work where you can get dirty. The suit was incredibly successful because it allowed workers to be covered from the neck to the ankles, so their clothes at the end of the working day were no longer to be thrown away. In 1917, Lee was the first brand to advertise nationwide in the US, even the soldiers engaged in the Great War wore their denim. In the following years the brand developed other models, designed mainly for cowboys, including jeans with zippers instead of buttons and jackets. The real turning point was in 1950 when sales began to grow even more because of the economic boom. Over the years Lee developed into a global brand, not just for farmers and workers, but for everyone, becoming an icon of American denim.Wrangler
In the early 1900s Blue Bell, a denim manufacturer for workwear , hired a tailor known as Rodeo Ben, whose specialty was clothes for cowboys . The cowboy’s figure was central to the American culture of the 40s: cheering crowds attended their shows and they were favourites among the people. However, that of the cowboy was hard work, which required resistant clothing but at the same time it had to have style and quality: denim was the answer. The goal was in fact to attract the attention of the spectators during the shows and the innovation at the base of the Wrangler brand revolves around this need.
Rodeo Ben and his team of tailors have come up over the years with various tweaks to make the jeans more functional for cowboys . Flat rivets to avoid scratching the saddle, pockets for the watch, flat seams for a more comfortable ride and seven belt loops instead of the usual five. The name of the brand was chosen following a sweepstake with the company’s workers. To win was the word Wrangler because in British English it means “brawler”, while in American English it can be interpreted as “man who takes care of an animal for work”, therefore a cowboy. Thus, in 1947 Wrangler was born in North Carolina, a jeans brand that was to remain forever in the history of American denim.
Japanese denim
In the mid-twentieth century Japan enters the scene, and again the war played a key role. Before leaving the country at the end of hostilities, American soldiers began to trade various items of clothing on the local market. Among these it was denim that fascinated the Japanese people and spread far and wide. In a few years a production strongly characterized by quality and the use of raw denim came into being; raw denim is the pure version of the fabric, obtained immediately after washing with the natural indigo dye.
While all over the world jeans were produced and distributed in mass form, in the Rising Sun the first company that produces handcrafted jeans with denim imported from the USA, Big John, was born in 1973. Shortly after, Kurabo began producing denim fabric and supplying numerous local companies, becoming the most emblematic denim factory in Japan. What most differentiates the Japanese denim from the American one is the craftmanship element and the attention to the quality of the single garment. Japanese denim is in fact cared for in every detail , from colouring with natural dyes to the cuts of the fabric, up to the use of a less treated and more authentic material. This results in a high-quality item and makes it unique, as well as very expensive . However, the brands that have made denim famous in the Western collective imaginery are all in the United States.
