In 1852, Levi Strauss, an immigrant from Bavaria, opened a fabric store in San Francisco at the height of the California Gold Rush. While working, he recognized a need among hard-working people: clothes that were made to withstand anything. He and tailor Jacob Davis combined brass rivet reinforcements with sturdy denim, leading in 1873 to the first hip coveralls called “waist coveralls.” Today we call them “blue jeans”.