Levi Strauss, San Francisco, & Stanford Court Hotel

What does Stanford Court have to do with Levi Strauss? A whole lot actually. As you know, Stanford Court has always been about being comfortable and looking good while doing so. That’s why our Front Desk Staff and Concierge don their favorite 501s at work. They’re our official uniform. But that’s not the only thing they have in common. Did you know that Levi Strauss jeans were started in San Francisco? Here’s the history of the all-American jean, aka the SCH uniform.

Try this on for size - The genius behind the jeans we known and love today wasn’t Levi Strauss, it was Jacob Davis, a tailor that had worked with Strauss. The story goes that one of Davis’ clients requested that he make a pair of work pants for her husband - one that he couldn’t break, as she was constantly in Davis’ shop to repair pants that had ripped at the seam. Instead of reinforcing the seams with more fabric and more stitching, he put metal rivets at the points of strain.

This addition proved to be widely successful - but too successful to Davis to handle on his own. As the new style of pants took off, Davis began thinking about patenting his product. But a patent without a business model would get him nowhere. He needed help. He thought of Levi Strauss, a local businessman and philanthropist. They had known each other before and even had a working relationship. Strauss even sold Davis the denim to make his first pair of jeans. Davis got in touch with Strauss, and the rest is history. Together they started the company that would go on to be the most recognizable jeans in the world, straight from San Francisco.

--

Like what you’re reading? Give us a like on Facebook.