The Levi's jacket worn by Albert Einstein

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Levi Strauss, a history of American style

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Location: Contemporary Jewish Museum

Address: 736 Mission Street San Francisco, CA 94103

In 1873 Levi Strauss, head of a textile and hardware company in San Francisco, joined forces with Jacob Davis, a Lithuanian tailor from Reno, Nevada, to file the patent for the first pants. man with rivets: the first “jean”, the Levi's 501, was born. Almost 150 years later, the brand's success continues. Beyond the object in denim, the Contemporary Jewish Museum of San Francisco traces the epic of the brand, highlighting its ability to reinvent itself and transcend fashions and eras.

The patent of Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis, 1873

It all started in Bavaria, in Buttenheim: on February 26, 1829, Löb Strauss was born, which would later take the name of Levi Strauss. Fatherless at 17, he left with his mother and sister for America to flee the persecutions of the Jews. He first settled in New York, then the gold rush pushed him to move to San Francisco, where he made a fortune, not by joining the nugget researchers, but by founding a company that provides all the everyday objects used by the latter, in particular textiles. Levi Strauss first moved to Battery and Pine, then moved after the 1906 earthquake to Valencia street, where his factory had nearly 1,500 sewing machines. The first exhibition hall traces the beginnings of Levi’s, and allows you to admire overalls and jeans dating from the 1900s and still very well preserved.

Jean dating from the early 20th century.

We then witness several successive transformations of the brand, dictated by several historical events, starting with the death of its founder in 1902. After the end of the gold rush, Levi's plays on the mythology of the Wild West and cowboys . The latter willingly wear the brand's jeans, and the women got started with the launch of jeans intended for them in 1934.

Jeans used to tow a car

The 501 continues to seduce with its resistance to the toughest tasks: jeans used to tow a car, for lack of adequate equipment, has also earned a rave letter of praise from its owner to its manufacturer.
Levi's jeans are becoming a staple of popular culture. In The wild outfit in 1953, Marlon Brandon popularized the image of the rebel in Levi’s, Marylin Monroe wore it ultra tight in “Les Désaxés”. The brand launched the paw of eph ’in 1969, symbol of the hippie movement, then the rappers appropriated larger forms in the 1980s; the costumes used in the film Straight outta compton, which chronicles the rise of Dr. Dre, Ice-Cube and Eazy-E from the poorer neighborhoods of Los Angeles to international fame.
The exhibition also highlights Levis' philanthropic action: as early as 1897, its founder created scholarships for students wishing to enter the University of Berkeley; in the 1980s, Levi's was one of the first American companies to publicly support the LGBTQ community, hard hit by the AIDS epidemic, by making significant donations to the first clinic specializing in this disease, founded in 1983 in San Francisco.

The eternal 501 of Steve Jobs

The highlight of the exhibition is undoubtedly the profusion of Levi’s clothes worn by stars, and gathered for the first time at the Contemporary Jewish Museum. Steve Jobs always wore the same uniform: an Issey Miyake black turtleneck, New Balance sneakers, and a blue 501. Andy Warhol screenprinted his favorite jeans, and said he wanted to wear them when he died.

On the left, Andy Warhol's 501; on the right, a screenprint inspired by the artist's favorite jeans
On the left, Lauryn Hill's stage outfits, during her tour “The miseducation of Lauryn Hill”; on the right, Madonna's denim mini shorts, worn during the Girly Show tour in 1993.

At the 2001 MTV Videos Music Awards, Beyoncé wore a 518 Superlow bootcut, while Madonna wore denim shorts and fishnet tights during her 1993 Girlie Show Tour. Albert Einstein rarely separated from his Levi's Cossack leather jacket: it dates from the 1930s, and remains surprisingly contemporary.

"Levi Strauss, an history of American Style" allows you to discover, through more than 250 objects, the rich history of a local brand that has become a global icon. For the record, Levi Strauss, he never wore 501, a creation that the wealthy merchant had imagined for the working class of the time. The Jewish immigrant at 17 was probably far from imagining that his mark would be worn by the older ones.

Agenda

From

to

Levi Strauss, a history of American style

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Location: Contemporary Jewish Museum

Address: 736 Mission Street San Francisco, CA 94103

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