Synthetic Indigo

In the wake of the American gold rush, and the rising popularity of Levi Strauss’ new blue jeans (patented in 1873), demand for denim cloth skyrocketed. This fabric, named for the French city where it originated (“de Nîmes” means “from Nîmes”), was colored with indigo dye.

Natural indigo dye was expensive to produce, so chemists began to seek alternatives. Adolf von Baeyer developed the first synthetic indigo in 1866. His success led to a proliferation of blue jeans, but the chemical process creates hazardous waste that the clothing industry still contends with today.

Originally designed for gold miners, lumberjacks,
and railroad workers in the American West,
Levi’s jeans came to be associated with casual
comfort and style in the mid-20th century.

Levi Strauss & Co. Archives (San Francisco, California)