2020年经济学人 李维斯是如何征服世界的

Books 

来源于《图书与艺术》版块

Jean history

牛仔的历史

How American denim¹ conquered the world

美国牛仔是如何征服世界的

He was born in a Bavarian village in 1829, ?eeing anti-Semitism with his family at 17. From New York he caught a steamer to California, a newly minted American citizen, with a view to expanding the family’s dry-goods business. But these were the heady days of the Gold Rush, and the young man dreamed of making it big. His initiative paid o? so well that you may be wearing his invention now: his name was Levi Strauss.

他于1829年出生在巴伐利亚的一个村庄，17岁时随家人逃离了反犹太主义。他在纽约搭上一艘汽船，前往新加入美国国籍的加州，目的是扩大家族的干货生意。但那是淘金热的日子，这个年轻人梦想着把它做大。他的倡议得到了很好的回报，你现在可能正穿着他的发明：他的名字是李维·斯特劳斯。

Technically², the entrepreneur who went by “Uncle Levi” didn’t invent the copper³ rivets⁴ on denim “waist overalls” that became his ?rm’s stock-in-trade. The idea came from a tailor in Nevada who bought cloth from Strauss to make work clothes for labourers. In 1872 Jacob Davis persuaded him to jointly⁵ ?le for a patent for an “improvement in fastening pocket openings”, and to shift from selling fabric⁶ to ?nished trousers. The rest is a history of marketing⁷ genius— documented in the largest-ever public display of artefacts from the Levi Strauss & Co. archive.

从技术上讲，这位被称为“李维大叔”的企业家并没有发明牛仔“腰部工作服”上的铜铆钉，而这种铆钉正是利瓦伊公司的存货。这个想法来自内华达州的一个裁缝，他从施特劳斯那里买了布给工人做工作服。1872年，雅各布·戴维斯说服他联合申请了一项专利，以“提升口袋开口紧固性”，并从销售布料转向销售成品裤子。剩下的就是营销天才的历史了——李维·斯特劳斯公司有史以来最大规模的文物公开展览记录了这段历史。

“Levi Strauss: A History of American Style” at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco deftly⁸ weaves together corporate⁹, cultural and social trends to tell the story of one of the country’s most famous exports. When Strauss died in 1902 he was eulogised as one of San Francisco’s foremost philanthropists and a pillar of the Jewish community. Nobody could have anticipated that the ?rm he bequeathed to four nephews would de?ne America’s style and become a global juggernaut. It did that by cannily¹⁰ roping its product to two mythic American ?gures: the cowboy and the rebel.

旧金山当代犹太博物馆的《李维·斯特劳斯：美国风格的历史》巧妙地将企业、文化和社会趋势编织在一起，讲述了这个国家最著名的出口商品之一的故事。施特劳斯于1902年逝世，他被誉为旧金山最重要的慈善家之一和犹太社区的支柱。没有人能预料到他留给四个侄子的公司会定义美国的风格并成为全球巨头。李维斯公司做到了，通过巧妙地将自己的产品与两个美国神话人物——牛仔和反叛者——联系在一起。

Levi’s 501jeans were tough. The oldest pair on display dates to 1890; another was used to tow a car. Marketed originally to farmers, mechanics and miners, they became the garb¹¹ of choice for Western horsemen. It wasn’t long before John Wayne and Clark Gable were wearing them into the sunset, followed by glamorous¹² hoodlums played by Marlon Brando and James Dean.

李维斯的501牛仔裤很结实。展出的最古老的一条牛仔裤腿可追溯到1890年；另一条腿当时用来拖汽车。牛仔衣物最初的目标客户是农民、机械师和矿工，后来成为了西方骑兵的首选服装。没过多久，著名美国演员约翰·韦恩和克拉克·盖博就穿着牛仔看日落了，接着是马龙·白兰度和詹姆斯·迪恩扮演的迷人的流氓。

The brand’s advertising¹³ rode the countercultural wave, capitalising on its status as a badge of coolness and freedom. Marilyn Monroe wore Levi’s; Andy Warhol immortalised them. Even Albert Einstein was spotted¹⁴ in a Levi’s bomber¹⁵ jacket. Jeans that graced the haunches of the famous—including Patti Smith, Madonna and Beyoncé—?ll the gallery and span the decades.

该品牌的广告乘着反文化浪潮，利用其酷和自由象征的地位象征。玛丽莲·梦露穿过李维斯；安迪·沃霍尔使其成为经典。甚至有人看到阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦穿着李维斯的短夹克。很多名人都穿过李维斯的牛仔裤——包括帕蒂·史密斯、麦当娜和碧昂丝——这些牛仔裤摆满了画廊跨越了几十年的而时间跨度。

At any given moment a big chunk¹⁶ of humanity is wearing blue jeans, the show’s curators observe. Levi’s have been coveted¹⁷ behind the Iron Curtain and fetishised in Japan; they have been ripped, embroidered¹⁸ and covered in ink. Not too shabby for a kid from Bavaria.

展览的策展人发现，在任何时候，都有一大块人穿着蓝色牛仔裤。李维斯在铁幕后备受关注，在日本也受到追捧；牛仔裤做成破洞、绣上花、还被墨水覆盖。对于一个来自巴伐利亚州的孩子来说，这不算太寒酸。

1 denim   

n.斜纹棉布；斜纹棉布裤，牛仔裤

参考例句：

• She wore pale blue denim shorts and a white denim work shirt.她穿着一条淡蓝色的斜纹粗棉布短裤，一件白粗布工作服上衣。
• Dennis was dressed in denim jeans.丹尼斯穿了一条牛仔裤。

2 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

3 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

4 rivets   

铆钉( rivet的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Straighten the rivets, please. 请把那铆钉铆直。
• Instead of rivets there came an invasion, an infliction, and a visitation. 但是铆钉并没有运来，来的却是骚扰、混乱和视察。

5 jointly   

ad.联合地，共同地

参考例句：

• Tenants are jointly and severally liable for payment of the rent. 租金由承租人共同且分别承担。
• She owns the house jointly with her husband. 她和丈夫共同拥有这所房子。

6 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

7 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

8 deftly   

adv.灵巧地，熟练地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He deftly folded the typed sheets and replaced them in the envelope. 他灵巧地将打有字的纸折好重新放回信封。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• At last he had a clew to her interest, and followed it deftly. 这一下终于让他发现了她的兴趣所在，于是他熟练地继续谈这个话题。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

9 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

10 cannily   

精明地

参考例句：

• Cannily, the government is turning patron. 精明的是，政府正在转变为赞助人。
• All these plentiful and substantial achievement is based on the cannily build and bran-new deploitation. 这一切丰硕成就，基于上海外服23年来的用心营造、全新开拓。

11 garb   

n.服装，装束

参考例句：

• He wore the garb of a general.他身着将军的制服。
• Certain political,social,and legal forms reappear in seemingly different garb.一些政治、社会和法律的形式在表面不同的外衣下重复出现。

12 glamorous   

adj.富有魅力的；美丽动人的；令人向往的

参考例句：

• The south coast is less glamorous but full of clean and attractive hotels.南海岸魅力稍逊，但却有很多干净漂亮的宾馆。
• It is hard work and not a glamorous job as portrayed by the media.这是份苦差，并非像媒体描绘的那般令人向往。

13 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

14 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

15 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

16 chunk   

n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量）

参考例句：

• They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
• The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。

17 coveted   

adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图

参考例句：

• He had long coveted the chance to work with a famous musician. 他一直渴望有机会与著名音乐家一起工作。
• Ther other boys coveted his new bat. 其他的男孩都想得到他的新球棒。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 embroidered   

adj．绣花的

参考例句：

• She embroidered flowers on the cushion covers. 她在这些靠垫套上绣了花。
• She embroidered flowers on the front of the dress. 她在连衣裙的正面绣花。