Who patented the riveted denim work trousers with Levi Strauss in 1873?

Jacob W. Davis patented the riveted denim work trousers with Levi Strauss in 1873.

Davis was a tailor based in Reno, Nevada. He strengthened stress points on trousers with copper rivets after a customer requested an especially durable pair of work pants. The idea proved commercially promising, but Davis lacked the resources to pursue a patent and large-scale production alone.

He wrote to Levi Strauss, whose San Francisco dry-goods business supplied fabric and other materials. The two men became partners, and the United States patent for their riveted trousers was granted on May 20, 1873.

Levi Strauss is the better-known name in the brand story, but Davis was the tailor and inventor who developed the rivet-reinforcement technique. The partnership combined Davis’s construction idea with Strauss’s business resources.