Background information
It’s trench coat time – some facts and shopping inspiration
by Laura Scholz
Fashion Lingo: when are jeans denim and vice versa?
16.5.2023
Translation: Jessica Johnson-Ferguson
You probably associate the US brand Levi’s with the origin of jeans. However, France and Italy play at least equally important roles in the history of the legendary blue trousers.
The story behind the trousers is nebulous. Work pants were in demand. Sturdy ones that wouldn’t tear or bust a seam when heavy work was done. The solution to this problem was provided in 1870 by Jacob Davis, a tailor based in Reno, Nevada. His brainwave was to reinforce delicate areas with rivets. Together with textile entrepreneur Levi Strauss, who provided the necessary funding, Davis filed the patent for the stabilised trousers three years later. This was the birth of the jeans we know today.
Without the rivets, however, neither the fabric nor the cut of the pants were new. Nor were they invented in the USA.
Where does the term denim come from?
The original denim, namely thick and tear-resistant cotton yarns woven on twill weave, hails from France.
More precisely, from the city of Nîmes in southern France. And because that’s where it’s from, the fabric was named after it. «Serge de Nîmes» (fabric from Nîmes) was abbreviated to «de Nîmes» and later anglicised to denim.
Where does the term jeans come from?
Legend has it that the cut of the trousers suffered a similar fate as the fabric they’re made from. The story goes that the design of the pants, for which the French used their diagonally woven fabric, was created in the northern Italian city of Genoa. Or Gênes, as the French would say. It was only a matter of time before the booming US market turned the word into jeans.
Recap
Denim is the material and comes from Nîmes. The word jeans describes a type of pant created in Gênes. So technically speaking, that’s not a jeans jacket or jeans skirt you’re wearing, but a denim jacket or denim skirt. But hey, we did just learn how quickly terms can be adopted and take on a life of their own.
In the «Fashion Lingo» series, I try to shed light on the dark that is language in the fashion industry. If you occasionally end up lost in translation, I’m sure I can help – drop me a line in the comments.
Header image: Cotton Bro via Pexels
Laura Scholz
Senior Editor
Laura.Scholz@digitecgalaxus.chAlways in the mood for good hits, great trips and clinking drinks.
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