Diesel has recreated the oldest jeans in history

Diesel has reconstructed the first denim fabric ever documented in history to create an exact replica of how a pair of jeans would have appeared at the end of the '700 – based on the appearance of a figurine of the historical crib by Pasquale Navone which is the oldest testimony of the appearance of the garment. The project is part of the inaugural edition of Genova Jeans 2021, a new festival dedicated to the world of denim that explores «entertainment, crafts and culture based on blue jeans», as Manuela Arata, founder and president of GenovaJeans explained to the newspaper Genova24 and which lasted from last Thursday until today, the closing day. 

The reconstruction signed by Diesel, a brand that has built an empire on denim, have received the approval of the historian of art, textiles and costume Marzia Cataldi Gallo. Obviously, the trousers look very different from our modern jeans: they came up to just below the knee, with the rest of the leg and foot covered with narrow velvet gaiters with ribbons; they had multiple buttons for opening on the front, since at the time there were no zips yet; and the fabric was composed of a white linen warp and a blue cotton weave – although the colors of historical jeans could also vary on indigo and brown. To ensure the fidelity of the replica, fabrics and production work have been made in a completely artisanal way.