DENIM JEANS EVOLUTION

Jeans has been, and is an important item of clothing for many decades. Denim garments came
into existence during the 18th century, a time when there was abundant production of cotton.
During that period, it gained importance due to its aspects of durability, and not easily torn which
benefited physical laborers much. During the 19 th century the garment was popularized by Levi
Strauss, a well-known name in the jean world. Denim clothing was manufactured by them for
miners. 20th century brought jeans as a fad of pop culture. Western cowboy movies portrayed
people wearing blue jeans. The 50s witnessed the cloth becoming a craze of the teen age
population. Manufacturers utilized the situation by coming up with innovative designs like new
colors, embroidery and patch works. During 60s and 70s bell bottoms and hip hugger patterns
became popular.

The
1800s

Miners
Uniform
We wouldnt be wearing our blues hadnt the miners demanded
them! With the rise in trade, slave labour, cotton plantations
and mines, workers and gold miners started complaining about
the easily torn cotton trousers and pockets. For their close-tothe ground line of work, a man named Loeb Strauss decided to
make tough and long-lasting pants for them to wear. Nevada
tailor Jacob Davis joined Loeb to patent the idea of putting
rivets on stress points of workmans waist overalls (the old
name for jeans) and they received US patent on May 20, 1873
which is celebrated as the official birthday of blue jeans.
Strauss later changed his name from the plain Loeb to the cool
Levi; this is when the brand Levi Strauss & Co was created.
1930s
&
40s

Cowboy
Culture
Jeans took on a new role in society and pop culture. Many
people began spending their spare time watching movies,
where the adventurous cowboys rode horses, shot bad guys,
and wore blue jeans. This is when the young and middle-aged
men started demanding jeans to imitate that casual, rugged
cowboy-ish look. Thats how jeans gained cult status through
their association with pop idols. A decade later, World War II
broke out and soldiers were the new national heroes and rolemodels. The fact that they often wore jeans when they were offduty further gained popularity among men.

1950s

A
symbol
of
rebellion
The youth of the 1950s were the first to embrace jeans as a
symbol of their generation, emulating young American film
stars such as Marlon Brando and James Dean. During the mid50s, Dean featured in a pair of Lee 101 Riders jeans, in Rebel
Without a Cause and created cinemas benchmark of
adolescent cool. Some schools in the US went so far as to ban
students from wearing denims, which further solidified their
connection with rebellion. Tapered jeans became the next big
trend with country music stars and the birth of rock and roll,
when Elvis Presley donned the slim-fit jeans and shocked the
country! Among women, stars like Gene Autry, Marilyn Monroe
and Sandra Dee were spotted wearing pants very slim to the
ankle.
1960s
&
70s

The
hippie
era
During the hippie movement of the 1960s, jeans became the
virtual uniform of the anti-war movement and were modified to
suit the fashion of the decade; psychedelic colours, embroidery
and cut-offs, all became the fresh innovations of the popular
outfit. For some more variety, the makers came up with bellbottom and stone-washed styles in the 1970s. In the year 1976,
Faraah Fawcett in Charlies Angels hopped on a skateboard
flaunting her bell bots in style. This is when the denim lovers
began personalising their pair of blues by adding panels at the
hems to make bell bottoms, or painting statements and images
onto the garments. Both men and women started sporting selfdesigned flare jeans to retro clubbing nights. Unfortunately, in
1979, flare jeans fell out of the fashion radar after an anti-disco
sentiment manifested itself and ultimately created a backlash
and decline
1980s

Designer
denims
Denims took the fashion industry by storm. Fashion designers
could no longer ignore the power of blue and started creating
their own line of jeans. In 1981, Calvin Klein launched their first
designer Jean brand and showcased the collection through the

legendary Brooke Shields advertising campaign, with its

irresistible suggestion of sexiness. The concept was: clean,
minimalistic and effortless styling with an element of edginess.
The next innovation was the worn-out look with holes often torn
on purpose. The 80s marked the invention of ripped jeans and
coloured ones in pink and white. Denims soon started being
associated with high-class glamour, being a part of workingclass wardrobes at the same time.
1990s

Fall
&
rebound
Denims were never completely out of style. However, their
popularity slightly faded among the youth. They werent really
wanting to sport jeans when they saw their parents generation
born in blue wearing the same. To be different, they turned to
khakis, cargos and branded sportswear. During this phase,
designers started blending jeans with other fabrics. Lycra,
stretch jeans, big and baggy jeans in red, green and indigo
shades were popular. Soon in the mid-nineties, denims were
back in vogue as hip-hop made its way to the mainstream
culture, with the latest style being baggy jeans. Gradually,
jeans evolved into being the symbol of comfort, leisure and
youthfulness for all ages, like it is today.
CONCLUSION:
Denims
are
here
to
stay!
Denim has charmed the fashion world greatly, reaching an
iconic level of popularity as a symbol of practical wear due to
its
unfussy
appearance,
easy-to-handle
surface
and
affordability. Today, denims having augmented above the
concept of just jeans and expanded across many types of
clothing, usually referred to as denim-wear clothing
includes jumpsuits, denim tops, waistcoats, kurtas, jackets and
the trendy jeggings and accessories like wristbands, fancy
collars, neck pieces, hairbands, stoles, shoes, bags, wallets,
caps
and
bangles.
Fashion runways across the world have been displaying denim
wear across a vast price range, accepting the fact that the
fabric has a mixed appeal, both as an upmarket fabric and as a
basic wear item. Often called casual-formal, denims are perfect

for our modern-day culture, wherein wearing relaxed attire and

looking comfortably dressed even at work is defined as being
fashionably progressive.
INITIAL OBJECTIVE: Since denim jeans has always been an
important aspect of the apparel industry considering the
comfort and style together, the idea of having two denim jeans
out of one pair of jeans should be given a thought.
REVERSIBLE GARMENTS:
Reversible clothing is known in the art. Reversible garments are designed such that the two surfaces of
the garment have a different pattern, color, or texture. Therefore, the user is provided with two choices of
pattern, color or fabric texture with each garment. Some types of reversible garments are constructed
using two different types of fabrics. The two fabrics are sewn together such that a different fabric faces out
when the garment is turned inside out and vice versa.
PROBLEM STATEMENT: The problem with this design is that the clothing is typically bulky and
uncomfortable due to the two layer thickness of the garment fabric.
PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: To develop a REVERSIBLE DENIM JEANS with a single layer of fabric.
SECONDARY OBJECTIVE: To try and record the output in Heavy, medium and light weight denim fabric
with different kinds of Denim Finishes (minimum 4)
CHALLENGES:

To attain a wearable and stylish finish on both sides of the fabric(heavy, medium and light weight).

To have functional pockets on both sides of the proposed product.

To have trims on both sides those do not hurt the wearer.

To stitch seams that can look presentable from both sides of the proposed product.

SUBJECTS RELATED TO OUR PROJECT: Pattern Making, Garment Construction, Fabric and Garment
Finishing, Material Science, Costing
DENIM FINISHING: