Levi Strauss: The Man Who Gave Blue Jeans to the World
, subject: Levi Strauss and Levi Strauss & Company, 2016
Levi Strauss’s biography traces a family’s escape from anti-Jewish laws and draws a lesson about visual communication from his story.
About the book
Using company records and other historical sources, Downey separates Levi Strauss from the myths around blue jeans and follows his migration, dry-goods business, partnership with Jacob Davis, and civic life.
Why read it
Best if you want a founder biography that includes a family’s escape from anti-Jewish laws and draws a lesson about visual communication you can test against another business.
Key themes
- A founder’s story shaped by legal exclusion
- Visual communication as a business lesson
Evidence and original sources
Sources: official Founders episodes — #33, #116, #135, #159, #253
The entire episode is a dedicated reading of Lynn Downey's biography of Levi Strauss, identified by the host as 'the book that I want to talk to you about today.'
- Levi Strauss: The Man Who Gave Blue Jeans to the World — The entire episode is a dedicated reading of Lynn Downey's biography of Levi Strauss, identified by the host as 'the book that I want to talk to you about today.'
- Sam Bronfman (Seagram's and the Bronfman family dynasty) — David points back to Founders 33 and reapplies the Levi Strauss biography's account of the family's escape from anti-Jewish laws.
- Joseph Pulitzer (Politics & Media) — David reapplies the Levi Strauss episode's lesson about visual communication while explaining Pulitzer's newspaper strategy.
- Andy Grove (Intel) — David says he read the Levi Strauss biography and compares its account of anti-Jewish restrictions with Andy Grove's family experience.
- Henry Goldman (Goldman Sachs) — David says he read this Levi Strauss biography for Founders No. 33.