Levi Strauss & Co.

World's largest maker of pants, noted especially for its blue-denim jeans.

The company traces its origin to Levi Strauss (1829–1902), a Bavarian immigrant who sold dry goods to miners during the California gold rush. Hearing of the miners' need for durable pants, he hired a tailor to make garments out of tent canvas, later substituting denim. In 1873, he and an associate received a patent for the copper riveting they used to strengthen their pants. The company's most spectacular growth occurred after 1946, when it decided to concentrate wholly on manufacturing clothing under its own label. In 1959 it began exporting, and during the 1960s jeans became enormously popular worldwide. The company went public in 1971 and was returned to private control (by Strauss's descendants) in 1985.

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▪ American company

      world's largest maker of pants, noted especially for its blue denim jeans called Levi's (registered trademark). It also manufactures tailored slacks, jackets, hats, shirts, skirts, and belts and licenses the manufacture of novelty items. The company is headquartered in San Francisco.

      The company traces its origin to Levi Strauss (1829–1902), a Bavarian immigrant who arrived in San Francisco in 1850 during the Gold Rush, bringing dry goods for sale to miners. Hearing of the miners' need for durable pants, Strauss hired a tailor to make garments out of tent canvas. (Later, denim was substituted, and copper riveting was added to pocket seams.) A merchandising partnership of Strauss and his two brothers, Jonas and Louis, was formed in 1853.

      After Strauss's death in 1902, leadership of the company passed to four nephews and, after 1918, to in-laws, the Haas family. The company's most spectacular growth occurred after 1946, when it decided to abandon wholesaling and concentrate on manufacturing clothing under its own label. By the 1960s Levi's and other jeans—once worn chiefly by Western cowboys—became popular worldwide. In 1985 the Haas family, along with other descendants of Levi Strauss, staged a leveraged buyout that returned the company to private ownership. In 1986 Levi Strauss & Co. introduced a new line of casual pants called “Dockers.”

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