Denim’s origins trace back to the 17th century in Nimes, France, where it was initially called ‘serge de Nimes’. This sturdy, twill-woven fabric was an attempt to replicate a different fabric called serge, and the name was eventually shortened to ‘denim’, writes Paddy Ryan

It is unlikely that the city of Nimes gets a second thought from most of us but there are few not directly impacted by it. I’ve no doubt that you will meet several people today wearing material first manufactured in Nimes. You may even be sporting it yourself. That material is the ubiquitous denim. Say it slowly and you are calling out that ancient city in the Languedoc region of France.

Once a glittering jewel in the outsize crown of the Roman empire, Nimes went through several incarnations before developing a thriving manufacturing trade in cotton and silk during the industrial age. While its silk industry lost out to Lyons, its cotton, especially the cheaper varieties, prospered.

When indigo dye from neighbouring Italy was introduced to the Nimes cotton, the result was a very strong, hard-wearing blue fabric. This became known as ‘serge de Nimes.’ Its suitability for cheap overalls and trousers saw it become particularly popular in the United States.

The French title of the fabric was ‘bleu de Genes’ or ‘Genoan Blue’. But the Americans called it ‘blue jeans.’ When Levi Strauss, specialising in hardwearing trousers for miners, purchased a batch of the fabric in the mid-1800s, it was labelled ‘serge de Nimes’. The full title was too much for busy Americans who cut it back to ‘de Nimes’, which over time became denim.

The first batch bought by Levi Strauss was numbered 501. The rest is history of the most famous trousers in the world — Levi 501 — a potent symbol of post war freedom, trying to shake off the shackles of a more conservative past.

But the symbol of the city of Nimes couldn’t be further removed from freedom. It is a crocodile chained to a palm tree, surrounded by laurel leaves.

This was the face of a coin struck in Nimes to celebrate the defeat of the Egyptians by the Romans at the Battle of Actium in 31BC. There was little freedom for the unfortunate Egyptians and less for the crocodile.

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