From workwear to rebellion: the untold fascinating history of denim

Denim is ubiquitous, yet many of us don’t know of its rich and complex history when we wear it on the daily.

At Stephen’s Jackets of the World exhibition last weekend, I rewound the clock to explore the fascinating history of the fabric in a short presentation.

Here’s a recap for those who may have missed it and are curious as to how the humble fabric can hold such historical weight.

origins

When examining the historical context of something, it’s common to start by turning back to the first chapter to understand where and when it began. But when it comes to denim, its origins are a simple question with a complicated answer (or not a firm one at all really). Many associate denim with America and Levi Strauss, and while that’s not entirely false as both influenced its evolution significantly, there’s more nuance as to where it was truly born. There are several theories and historians continue to debate over the topic, to this day.

The first and most widely held view is that it originated in the town of Nimes, located in the Occitanie region of southern France. It’s believed the French discovered the remarkably unique weaving method of creating denim, when supposedly replicating corduroy from Italy. The supposed original name of “Serge de Nimes” roughly translates to “fabric of Nimes”.

Another theory states denim was born out of the UK, arguing England was vital in developing technology in not just the weaving process but the spinning of threads, and were responsible for discovering the unique weaving process undertaken to create denim.

unique characteristics

Speaking of, denim has a skeleton structure like no other fabric. It is a warp-faced twill weave, whereby the warp thread (vertical on the weaving loom) sits directly on top of the weft thread (horizontal on the weaving loom).

Denim gets its signature two-toned look as the naturally-white left threads pass underneath indigo-dyed warp threads, making one side blue and the other white.

The dyeing process also affects its wear-and-tear evolution. Warp threads are indigo-dyed using a chain dyeing or dip-dyeing, whereby they are placed in and out repeatedly, but the indigo fails to penetrate through the entire thread. Hence when one wears their denim jacket or jeans “to death” and areas like the elbows start to fade, this is because the upper layers of the warp-faced thread have worn away, exposing the inner naturally-white cotton.

Indigo dyeing derives naturally from a variety of plants and tropical shrubs. During the dyeing process, it starts off green and oxidises into blue, but the tone of the blue depends on which plant the dye is made from.

Indigo was originally manufactured and exported from India, and it became a highly prized commodity. It was only when the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama discovered a sea route to India in 1497, that Indigo dyeing branched out into other countries as folk travelled to and from India.

Because Indigo was expensive to come by, it became a luxury. That was until a German chemist by the name of Adolf von Baeyer synthesised it to be used on an industrial scale, making it far cheaper to produce and paving the way for the first industrial mass production of synthetic indigo in 1897.

strength

Another individual who played a vital role in the development of the denim we all know, love and wear today, was tailor Jacob Davis. He was born in Latvia and moved to America in 1854. Jacob discovered a revolutionary method of strengthening denim when one of his regular customers came to him with a challenge.

Her husband’s pants kept ripping, and quite frankly she was over it, so she asked Jacob if there was any way of making his jeans just that little bit stronger so they wouldn’t tear. Pondering how he could go about this quest, Davis came upon some copper rivets in his studio usually used for horse blankets. He tried them out, punching them into the “weak” points of the customer’s pants and hit the bullseye. It worked, and word soon spread — in 18 months Jacob sold more than 200 pairs of riveted denim pants, what we now know as jeans.

Jacob was a small town guy who didn’t necessarily have the funds to patent and scale his unique idea, so he went to Levi Strauss and offered a partnership deal.

The deal was settled in 1873 and they held the copyright for 17 years. The moment that time came to an anticipated end, companies rushed to add rivets into their pants and competitors such as The Stronghold and Can’t Bust Em launched.

diversity

In the early 20th century, denim was adopted by western cowboys, miners and farmers throughout the US as the uniform of choice due to its durability. Denim is often associated with these white cultural symbols but it’s an unfair representation. The contributions of people of colour to the development of denim often goes unrecognised.

Thousands of enslaved African Americans wore denim on cotton and indigo plantations and the fabric was a symbol of class divide, between slaves (wearing denim) and landowners (wearing lace, linen and silk).

The unique fabrication transitioned from workwear to fashion in the mid-20th century. Iconic figures like James Dean and Marlon Brando wore jeans in Hollywood films, making them symbols of rebellion and youth culture.

During the civil rights movements of the 1950s and 1960s, denim was “reclaimed” by activists, and it became symbolic of the fight for equality for African Americans.

It was similarly worn by 1960s feminist activists as a political symbol of gender equality.

modern denim

Nowadays, we have variations of denim and some include a stretch element, whether that’s for comfort or practicality. There are even some “denim” garments which aren’t blue, they could be black or green or red and some would argue that those aren’t technically denim but instead a dyed twill weave fabric. However, culturally and socially we still label and identify these items as denim.