Levi Strauss and the founding of Levi's jeans

¶ … earn to live while some live to earn. Levi Strauss, the renowned owner and the pioneer of the jeans industry, once dreamed to be a man with a big name as big as his company enjoyed during and after his successful life until yesterday and certainly lived to earn handsome profits. This research paper sheds light on the history of both the founder of Levi's and the company that came to be known as Levi Strauss & Co.

History of Levi Strauss

One of the famous names in the garment industry, Levi Strauss was the first to capitalize the California's gold rush economic detonation and owner of one of the top American companies who is a victim of the recent economic recession. The odyssey of Levi Strauss from a young orphan to the owner of various companies and finally the founder of Levis jeans can be well comprehended and enjoyed from a discussion below:

From Levi Strauss To Levi Strauss & Co

Levi Strauss pioneer, father of the blue jeans, was born on February 26, 1829 in Bavaria, Buttenheim (Levis To Levis Co). His father Hirsch Strauss married Rebecca Haas Strauss and left this transitory world leaving behind seven innocent souls to feed in 1845 due to tuberculosis. Levi had Jacob, Jonas, Louis, Rosla and Mathilde from his stepmother and the only blood sister Fanny after the death of his mother in 1847 (Levis To Levis Co). He along with Fanny left for New York to meet his brother, Jonas and Jacob, who were by then well established textile wholesalers and tailors of repute and were minting money (Strauss) under the name J. Strauss Brothers & Co (Levis to Levis Co.) and by 1850, Levi was well-versed in garment trading (Levis to Levis Co.). However, he lived for five years at a stretch on his uncle Daniel Goldman farm and well-adapted as well as rapidly learnt the ways, living style and language of the people of Kentucky by running his own business through selling off pieces of cloth to the passer-by until he mastered the art of trading through first-hand experience (Strauss). On his return to New York, gold rush boom had already struck the country and people from all over the United States were raking their brains for ways to reap benefits. Nonetheless, Levi who always had a knack for trading and a dream to earn a reputation in the market while earning obscene amount of money, made his way to the city of opportunities, equipped with a sufficient supply of cloth and other items involving canvas, hoping to sell most of his luggage to the visitors traveling with him onboard (Strauss). On reaching San Francisco, he had only canvas left with him, which he utilized in designing what is today branded as "Levi's Jeans" (Strauss). After cutting, trimming and stitching the canvas into trousers for gold miners who worked day in and day out in the mines, both the idea and the garment clicked and became an instant hit giving birth to several giant jeans manufacturing facilities under single brand name: Levis (Strauss)!

First business place had 90 Sacramento Street as its official address and "Levi Strauss" as the name (Levis to Levis Co). With augmented fame, reputation and business and more cash flow pouring in massive amounts, assisted the founder of "Levi Strauss & Co" to shift his working place to commercially popular locations and to equip his headquarter with better facilities like: "gaslight chandeliers and freight elevators" (Levis to Levis Co). Active participation in philanthropic activities of San Francisco bestowed further popularity however his aim was not to achieve personal gains but to help the world become a better place by giving regular donations to missionary schools and temples (Levis to Levis Co). May 20, 1873 is a milestone both in the life history of the company and the garment industry for Levis received a patent for manufacturing exclusive "waist overalls" (Levis to Levis Co.) made out of "serge de Nimes--denim -- dyed with indigo" instead of previously used canvas (Strauss) "with metal rivets at the points of strain: pocket corners and at the base of the button fly" (Levis to Levis Co.).

After handing over the expanded business to his four nephews, he further pursued his goal of serving humanity through social work. Levi Strauss made generous contributions to the Eureka Benevolent Society, the Hebrew Board of Relief and the Pacific Hebrew Orphan Asylum and Home. After assisting the University of California with various scholarship funds, he left the world on September 27, 1902 (Levis to Levis Co.), leaving behind an exemplary lifestyle and the brand name "Levis."

Conclusion

Hence, from the above discussion we may culminate that Levis Strauss was no doubt a name in both fashion and garment industry who founded pillars on which rests the foundation of the contemporary flourishing textile industry. Though, Levis Strauss & Co. is in hard waters currently, like past history reveals, the company will surely emerge from the challenges and hardships it faces today in a cutthroat-working milieu.

In conclusion, the strong impact that the life of Strauss had can be best expressed in the words of San Francisco Board of Trade: "The great causes of education and charity have likewise suffered a signal loss in the death of Mr. Strauss, whose splendid endowments to the University of California will be an enduring testimonial of his worth as a liberal, public-minded citizen and whose numberless unostentatious acts of charity in which neither race nor creed were recognized, exemplified his broad and generous love for and sympathy with humanity" (Levis To Levis & Co.).

Hence from the above disc