Bavarian immigrant Levi Strauss founded a dry goods company in San Francisco during the height of the California Gold Rush. He soon recognized that hardworking people had a need for clothes built to endure anything. In 1873, he & tailor Jacob Davis manufactured waist overalls that combined copper rivet reinforcements with tough denim. Blue jeans started as an invention for the American worker & became the uniform of progress. Levi Strauss & Co. is now one of the largest apparel companies in the world, with a range of products available in over 100 countries. You wear jeans; you live in Levi's.