--- title: On Blue Jeans' Anniversary, A Look at Their 1970s World Domination description: On May 20, 1873, Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis received the first patent for blue jeans. Within a century, they were a global fashion staple. canonical: https://time.com/3850247/blue-jeans-1873/ author: Eliza Berman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-20T11:30:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:04:06.771Z og:title: On Blue Jeans' Anniversary, A Look at Their 1970s World Domination og:description: On May 20, 1873, Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis received the first patent for blue jeans. Within a century, they were a global fashion staple. og:url: https://time.com/3850247/blue-jeans-1873/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6808880b286cf034/6987eec8a988ca32586b08f1/150507-levi-stauss-01.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Peter and Walter Haas, Levi Strauss company og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: On Blue Jeans' Anniversary, A Look at Their 1970s World Domination twitter:description: On May 20, 1873, Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis received the first patent for blue jeans. Within a century, they were a global fashion staple. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6808880b286cf034/6987eec8a988ca32586b08f1/150507-levi-stauss-01.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Wish Your Blue Jeans a Happy 142nd Birthday  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. May 20, 2015 11:30 AM CUT  Peter Haas, President of Levi Strauss (seated) and former company president, his brother Walter (standing), next to cut-out of company founder, 1972. Peter Haas, President of Levi Strauss (seated) and former company president, his brother Walter (standing), next to cut-out of company founder, 1972.Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. May 20, 2015 11:30 AM CUT “The world is blue-jean country now,” LIFE proclaimed in its Nov. 24, 1972, issue. At that time, blue jeans were closing in on their 100th birthday, or at least the anniversary of the official patent Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis were granted on May 20, 1873, for copper-riveted jeans. The sturdy cotton trousers had not only become synonymous with American fashion, but they were also a hot second-hand commodity overseas, as Europeans sought to embody what LIFE called “the aura of Wild Western authenticity.” Blue jeans as we know them today were a collaboration between Davis, a tailor, and Strauss, a businessman. Davis had first constructed the strong working pants for a customer, using copper rivets to reinforce the seams and pockets. Within a couple of years, unable to meet skyrocketing demand for the durable garment, he approached Strauss for both financial support and a proposed partnership to work toward a patent. When LIFE revisited Davis and Strauss’ invention in the early 1970s, the U.S. was producing 450 million yards of denim annually and American jeans were selling on the Russian black market for $90\. LIFE described this “denim takeover” as follows: --- > “” --- The biggest irony in blue jeans’ emergence as a worldwide sartorial phenomenon was how far they had come from their original purpose as the laborer’s uniform. “The idea that he might one day be hailed as a world fashion leader,” LIFE wrote, “would surely have given old Levi Strauss a laugh.” _Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter at_ [_@LizabethRonk_](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk "undefined")_._  Peter Haas, President of Levi Strauss (seated) and former company president, his brother Walter (standing), next to cut-out of company founder, 1972. Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Chopped-off blue jeans on the beach at St. Tropez; a car upholstered in Levi's denim; French pop singer Johnny Hallyday in a studded Wrangler shirt and jeans. LIFE Magazine  The American blue jean takes on Europe: 60,000 lbs. of denim headed for Europe from Brooklyn; residents of Moscow in denim; Levi's at a Paris flea market; Parisian strippers in Levi's. LIFE Magazine  A life-size cutout of his ancestor the founder at his side, Levi Strauss President Peter Haas sits in front of lined-up employees at the oldest Levi's factory, in San Francisco. 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