Blue de Genes – Reserved Magazine

Imagine a spring season without a denim shorts or trousers. Not that easy. Everyone you know has a pair of them, right? Skinnies, boyfriends, high-waists, overalls. Is there other piece of clothing as widely worn as jeans? This history of garment begins with gold miners and sailors.

Blue from Genoa (fr. blue de Gênes) refers to trousers worn by sailors at the beginning of XIX century. That time the blue fabric was mostly produced in French Nîmes, that gave the name to denim (fr. de Nîmes), sewn in Italy and from Genoa transported overseas.

The most popular part starts here, in the gold rush America. With miners, farmers and Levi Strauss. Labourers needed an extremely durable and sturdy workwear. Trousers that wouldn’t get damaged or stained were on high demand and denim seemed to be perfect. Strauss who was a merchant started to import the fabric and in 1853 opened a warehouse in California.

There is always a winner of the story. Tailor Jacob Davis, making trousers for woodcutters, came up with the idea to support the pockets with rivets. As we all know now (even if we never carry pieces of gold with us ;), it hit the bull’s eye. Unfortunately, Davis couldn’t afford to patent it and had to ask Strauss for help. Levi’s business was growing.

Explosion of clothing industry and fashion in XX century brought big interests to jeans. Till World War II they were reserved for western Americans and cowboys. A bit later, being borrowed also by their wives, got popular among women. To Europe jeans came with USA soldiers and started to be more casual.

50s. Marlon Brandon and James Dean. All teenagers wanted to be like them – rebellious and free. After “Rebel Without a Cause” jeans became symbolic. They were even forbidden at schools that time. Hippies with floral flares, punks with tears and rips – denim was for individualists. Isn’t it still?