Self-made Success Story of Levi Strauss

Strauss is one of the most influencing American immigrant that had a self-made success. Through constant work and the eagerness to take risks, Levi Strauss slowly emerged as one of the most salient citizens of California by end of the 19th century. He used his name for one of the most well-known clothing brand, which is now known all over the globe for its quality jeans: Levi Strauss & Co. Levi Strauss, his first name being Loeb, was born on February 26, 1829, in Buttenheim, Germany. His own family had their own family business of selling dried goods and several of his father’s sons maintained it after they left Germany. As the family were Jewish, the United States offered them freedom and better opportunities for their business to grow.

During the year of 1849, gold was discovered outside Sacramento, California, bringing hundreds of fortune hunters to the location. As this frenzy continued, Levi’s sister Fanny went to San Francisco with her husband to open a dry-goods business. Hearing this decision, Strauss sailed to California, carrying dry-goods given by his brother. After arriving in San Francisco, Levi set up his own wholesale business, first called Levi Strauss, acting as a agent for his half-brothers. Most of his shipments that came included denim work pants or the fabric itself. Then the goods were sold to the miners, but when more families came to San Francisco, the company decided to add clothing separately for women and children. Slowly, he grew a reputation for selling quality goods at fair price range. Within 12 years, Strauss had become one of the most successful dry-goods businesses in California, while his firm continued to expand. The first work pants he sold were made of canvas, but Strauss later moved to denim instead. These pants were just one of the many products by Levi Strauss & Company, which ranged from jackets to boots.

As Levi Strauss & Co. grew, the management changed as Strauss’s nephews began entering the business and taking on more responsibilities. This happened as his brother-in-law, David Stern, passed away in 1874. Nonetheless, Levi still continued to make major company decisions while his nephews managed the operations. Over the next few years, his fortune also grew: an 1877 report stated that Levi Strauss was worth more than $4 million. In 1902, illness affected Strauss, and he took a vacation off to try to bring back his health. However, his condition worsened, and he died peacefully in his sleep during the night of September 26. An invention that Levi Strauss & Co. was known for is their riveted jeans. This was a huge point in Strauss’s career as these pair of jeans would go on to inspire other companies worldwide such as American Eagle, Wrangler and even Diesel. This started off with another man who would eventually be the first to come up with the idea for riveted jeans. He was a man, who was a Nevada tailor, named Jacob Davis. Similar to Strauss, Davis was also a Jewish immigrant and in 1872, he had sent Levi Strauss a letter depicting improvements he had made to denim pants. Some points that stuck out to Strauss was how the seams were stronger near the pockets and the fly, convincing him to secure a patent with Jacob. By doing this, no other company could use this design.

In 1873, Levi Strauss & Co. released its first pair of blue riveted denim pants — the original Levi’s blue jeans still worn to this day. After seeing the success of the release of riveted jeans, Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis opened up their first manufacturing plant. They continued on to make denim jackets with rivets and later added work shirts to their clothing line. Within the next few years, the company hired several hundreds of workers allowing mass production of their products to happen pushing out in faster time. This process made their sales increase drastically.