PBS will air their fashion documentary, “American Experience: Riveted: The History of Jeans” on Monday, February 7, 2022, 9:00 – 10:00 p.m. ET.
The story of jeans usually begins with Levi Strauss, a Bavarian immigrant looking to make his fortune selling garments to the 49ers during the California Gold Rush. But half a century before Strauss, enslaved people in the American South were wearing a precursor of denim made from a coarse textile known as “slave cloth.” The blue hue of jeans resulted from an arduous dyeing process using the indigo plant. Eliza Lucas, the daughter of an 18th-century colonial governor, has long been credited as the savvy entrepreneur who jump-started the southern economy with indigo production. Left out of this narrative are the West African enslaved people, whose invaluable expertise for growing, processing and dyeing the plant had been brought with them.
Blue jeans are a fashion staple that is worn by every genre that transcends rich, poor, young, old, from every decade and fashion class.
Starting from the early enslaved workers who created the indigo dye that led to demin, it was the workers of the California mines to the teen scene of the 50 and 60s.
Finally in today’s fashion with designers Tommy Hilfiger, hip-hop artists and super models.
