Denim (a sturdy cotton fabric) originated in the 1800s in the French town of Nîmes.
In French, it was called serge de Nîmes, i.e., Serge (a special kind of fabric) from Nimes, and that is how it got its name De-Nim.
While denim had existed for a while, it gained popularity in 1871 when a tailor named Jacob Davis put rivets at stress points on denim pants.
These stress points were areas that endured the most strain, such as pocket corners and the base of the fly.
As per the legend, the wife of a labourer one day went to Jacob Davis and asked if he could make denim work trousers that would not disintegrate easily.
Since rivets held the fabric together, the experiment did add life to the trousers.
His invention became so popular that he couldn’t meet the demand with the production capacity of his small shop.
So, he moved his production to the facilities of dry goods wholesaler Levi Strauss & Co., which had been a supplier of fabric to Jacob Davis.
In 1873, Jacob and Levi Strauss—now business partners—patented the riveted trousers (they became jeans in the 1960s).
When their patent ended in 1890, other manufacturers began reproducing the style, increasing its popularity further.
Then, when Hollywood began showing handsome cowboy men wearing these riveted-trousers in the 1920s and the 1930s, they became widely accepted.
And the tradition of rivets stuck around, though more for the styling and less for the strength they provided to the trousers.
