Jeans have come long way

Nowadays, fashion trends are changed. Previously, fashion trend is controlled by the

fashion magazine,

however, it is different now. No better it is good or bad,

the trend of

fashion is shaped and influenced by online celebrities.

People tend to follow the popular stars’ dressing has a long history. In the past, the loyal families always lead the fashion trend, such as Marie Antoinette, she leads the fanciest and

luxurious fashion trend, and the Kings in the past are the

fashion stars as well. Time goes by, movie stars and singers become to the fashion trend that

ordinary

people tend to follow. With the increase of the economy, people have better life quality,

therefore, they would like to pay more

attention to their

dressing, and this

stimulates the bloom of fashion industry too.

History of denim jeans – how denim trend changed over the year

“Fashion is mysterious, as a rule. Why are blue jeans a classic? You just hit on something that happens to be timeless and right.” – Diane von Furstenberg

Denim has known to revolutionize the fashion industry than any other clothing. From being tough twill trousers worn by merchant sailors to becoming wardrobe-staple denim jeans have come a long way.

Despite the range of innovative materials available, denim remains one of the most versatile, durable, and highly sought-after fabrics on the market. It has evolved with time and still remains to have the same appeal. Several studies have attempted to provide a history of denim, such as Ian Finlayson’s (1990) Denim: An American Legend, a historical iconography of denim, and Miller and Woodward’s (2011) Global Denim.

However, do you know how it all started? In this article, our author Adita Banerjee has covered the following topics that will show how denim jeans were originated and have become part of our daily wear.

How were jeans born?

Branding of Denim Jeans

Evolution of Denim Jeans

Denim Production in the modern age

How do designers get the inspiration to include denim in the clothing lines?

How does your favourite denim brand come to the front?

Denim – Day and Night

How were jeans born?

Jeans have a long history, dating back to 1567 with the introduction of the word “Genoese” or “genes” to describe the tough twill trousers worn by merchant sailors from the Italian coastal city of Genoa. Weavers in Nimes, France tried to reproduce this fabric.

This fabric was classified as a twill weave fabric using one coloured thread (basically indigo dyed) and one white thread with the weft passing under the warp threads. It had a unique feel and was a perfect fit for the working class people. Today we call it denim, the word denim comes from the French phrase “Serge de Nimes” which means serge from Nimes. The meaning of denim alluded to the working-class and only later became a fashion statement.

Branding of Denim Jeans

In 1853 Levi Strauss moved to San Francisco to open a dry good store for people involved in the ‘gold rush’. He was dealing with the imported cotton fabric, denim when Jacob W. Davis, a tailor, who made functional items such as tents, horse blankets, and wagon covers asked Strauss to partner with him to patent and sell clothing reinforced with rivets. The reason was that Levi’s fabric was integral to them and Strauss had discovered a way to make it more durable by using metal rivets.

They became partners and on May 20, 1873, the two men received U.S. Patent 139,121 from the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The minors appreciated the new look of jeans which overcame the problem of ripped pockets. Strauss and Davis initially made jeans in two types of fabric, brown duck, and blue denim until the creation of the denim 501 styles in 1890 which paved way for a modernized version.

Many improvements were made like belt loops appeared in 1922 and zippers replaced the button fly. However, by 1890 this partnership ended and manufacturers like OshKosh B’Gosh, Wrangler, and Lee Mercantile appeared in the limelight.

Evolution of Denim Jeans

In 150 years, jeans have gone through a lot of changes. In the late 1800s, the jeans were basically a “waist overall” and were commonly worn by western cowboys, miners, farmers in the US. Being cheap and sturdy it became a common feature among working men.

In the early 20th century, denim was widely used by the military during World War-I and thus became associated with militarism.

During the mid-50s, the term jeans was used to distinguish it from other fabrics. Young people started wearing denim in the 1950s as a symbol of rebellion inspired by movies like “The Wild One” played by Marlon Brando and “Rebel Without a Cause” by James Dean.

The 1960s-70s was marked by bell-bottom widely featured in magazines while in1965, Limbo, a boutique in the New York East Village, came up with the idea to wash a pair of jeans to make them look used and worn out, decorated them with patches and decals.

In 1976, Calvin Klein showed blue jeans on the runway—the first designer to do so followed by Gloria Vanderbilt. They paved way for the acid-wash jeans in the 1980s.

Baggy, ripped jeans was all over the world in the 1990s and fashion houses such as Versace, Dolce & Gabbana and Dior also entered the jean market to promote their designs among which skinny jeans became a favourite in the 2000s.

Over the decades, the types and styles of jeans became stratified among the socio-economic group making jeans a part of life. Denim jeans has inherited unique features over the years and each has been modified by designers to showcase individual taste and style.

Denim Production in the modern age

The process of denim making is vigorous and time-consuming. The manufactured denim fabric is taken to the processing department for further steps. Designers use five elements to create a design that will stimulate the potential consumer to buy like colour, silhouette, drape, texture, and tone.

Harper Magazine