Jacob Davis co-patented the riveted work trousers that became the first Levi’s jeans in 1873.
Davis was a Latvian-born tailor working in Reno, Nevada. He strengthened points of strain on work trousers with copper rivets, particularly the pocket corners and the base of the button fly. After customers responded well, he contacted San Francisco dry-goods merchant Levi Strauss for financial and manufacturing support.
The two men received U.S. Patent No. 139,121 on May 20, 1873. Strauss supplied fabric and commercial expertise, while Davis contributed the practical fastening idea and tailoring knowledge. The patent covered riveted clothing generally, not only trousers.
A common mix-up is to credit Strauss alone with inventing jeans. Strauss built the company that commercialized them, but Davis was the tailor who proposed and developed the rivet system. Their partnership established the basic construction associated with early blue jeans.