Levi Strauss was born in 1829 to a large Jewish family in Bavaria, Germany. After his father's death to tuberculosis, the remaining Strauss family made its way to the United States to avoid the religious discrimination suffered in Germany. Levi had two older brothers already in New York City, where they ran a dry goods business. Levi joined the family business and took it to the West Coast during the 1849 California Gold Rush. His wholesale dry goods business sold rough canvas for tents and wagon covers, but his miner customers had a greater need for heavy-duty work pants.
Levi fashioned the canvas into "waist overalls," which the miners liked because of their durability, but the canvas had a tendency to chafe their skin. A new material from France called “serge de nims” was substituted for the canvas. This twill cotton cloth came to be known in the States as “denim” (literally, “de nim”). The denim blue jean was born.