Levi Strauss (LEVI) began trading on the NYSE on 21 March 2019

The iconic blue jean maker and clothing retailer has priced its initial public offering of 36.67 mln shares at $17 per share (above the expected $14.00-16.00 range), valuing the company at about $6.6 billion.

• Opened for trading at $22.22, up 31 percent from its offering price of $17.
• The 166-year-old company, which owns the Dockers and Denizen brands, previously went public in 1971, but the namesake founder's descendants took it private again in 1985.

The company was founded by Levi Strauss, who immigrated to the United States from Bavaria and set up shop in San Francisco in 1853 with a wholesale dry goods business. Twenty years later, he and a business partner received a patent for “waist overalls” with metal rivets at points of strain — a garment known today as the blue jean.

Levi's employees and owners ring the opening bell on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on the day that Levi Strauss has returned to the stock market with an IPO on March 21, 2019 in New York City. 

Levi Strauss CEO Chip Bergh poses for photos outside the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, March 21, 2019. Levi Strauss & Co., which gave America its first pair of blue jeans, is going public for the second time. 

The "No Blue Jeans" rule was relaxed on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, March 21, 2019. 

Levi's employees make free t-shirts outside of the New York Stock Exchange on the day that Levi Strauss has returned to the stock market with an IPO on March 21, 2019 in New York City. 

2nd day

First IPO in 1971:  The 166-year-old company, which owns the Dockers and Denizen brands, previously went public in 1971, but the namesake founder's descendants took it private again in 1985.