The oldest known surviving Levi's jeans are generally dated to 1879.
The pair, often called “XX,” belongs to Levi Strauss & Co.'s historical archive and is regarded as the oldest surviving example of the brand's riveted denim trousers. It predates the modern popularity of jeans by decades, when they were still rugged workwear rather than everyday fashion.
Levi Strauss and tailor Jacob Davis received a U.S. patent for copper-riveted trousers in 1873. The rivets reinforced stress points such as pocket corners, making the garments useful to miners, laborers, and other workers. The early trousers were commonly called waist overalls rather than jeans.
The date is sometimes confused with 1873, the patent year, or 1890, when Levi Strauss & Co. began assigning lot numbers and used “501” for its famous waist overalls. Those are important milestones, but neither is the date of the oldest surviving pair.