Whether fortune hunters or Hollywood stars, whether workers or intellectuals - everyone wears blue jeans. Hardly any other item of clothing is so iconographically representative of the myth of America. Director Neele Leana Vollmar tells the amazing story of the invention of jeans in the four-part event series "Levi Strauss and the Fabric of Dreams". Vincent Redetzki as the Franconian fabric merchant Levi Strauss and Anton von Lucke in the role of the Latvian tailor Jacob Davis play two immigrants who realize their "American dream" in wild times and despite adverse circumstances. Their patent for denim trousers reinforced with rivets from 1873 laid the foundation for an unprecedented success story: Today, 250 million of the world's most worn trousers are produced every year. "Levis" is one of the best-known brand names and enjoys cult status. The four 45-minute episodes span the 1840s to the 1870s: from Europe's failed revolutions in 1848, which triggered waves of emigration to the New World, to the gold rush in California and the American Civil War, to the "Gilded Age" of the US economy.—ADR Das Erste