Levi Strauss & Co. is a privately held American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's brand of denim jeans. It was founded in 1853 when Levi Strauss came from Buttenheim, Franconia, to San Francisco, California to open a west coast branch of his brothers' New York dry goods business. In 1873 Levi Strauss and tailor Jacob Davis received a U.S. Patent to make the first riveted men's work pants out of denim: the first blue jeans. The company briefly experimented with a public stock listing, but remains owned and controlled by descendants and relatives of Levi Strauss's four... nephews. Levi Strauss & Co. is a worldwide corporation organized into three geographic divisions: Levi Strauss Americas , based in the San Francisco headquarters; Levi Strauss Europe, Middle East and Africa , based in Brussels; and Asia Pacific Division , based in Singapore. The company employs a staff of approximately 10,500 people worldwide. The core Levi's was founded in 1873 in San Francisco, specializing in riveted denim jeans and different lines of casual and street fashion.
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