Jeans History

The earliest known precursor to jeans is the Indian export of a thick cotton cloth, in the 16th century, known as dungaree. Dyed in indigo, it was sold near the Dongarii Fort near Bombay. Sailors cut it to suit them.Jeans fabric was made in Chieri, a town near Turin (Italy), already in 1600s. It was sold through the harbor of Genoa, that was the capital of an independent republic, and a naval power. The first were made for the Genoese Navy because it required all-purpose pants for its sailors that could be worn wet or dry, and whose legs could easily be rolled up to wear while swabbing the deck. These jeans would be laundered by dragging them in large mesh nets behind the ship, and the sea water would bleach them white. According to many people the jeans name comes from blue de Genes, i.e. blue of Genoa. The raw material was coming from the city of Nîmes (France) de Nîmes i.e. denim.