Levis launches new global brand - in Shanghai

Strauss & Co. launched a new global brand in Shanghai on Wednesday. The new brand is aimed at young consumers in emerging markets, starting with China, Singapore and South Korea. These Levis products will aim at a broader segment of Chinese consumers than traditional Levis, which sell for over $100 in the upscale malls along Shanghai's tony Nanjing Rd. shopping strip. "In the last few years we seen a new group of consumers," said Aaron Boey, president for Levi Strauss's Asia-Pacific division. "Many of them want stylish clothes but at accessible prices," he said. Levi is calling the new brand "dENIZEN." The Levis brand enjoys an avid following in China, among a relatively limited number well-off younger shoppers, some of whom are collectors.
"Some people favor the classics, such as No. 501; others look for different designs and some are obsessed with Levis' cowboy spirit or the history behind the brand," said Christina Wong, managing editor of INSTYLE magazine in Shanghai. San Francisco, California-based Levi Strauss is keen to expand its base in one of the world's biggest consumer markets, where sales of apparel and footwear hit $169 billion last year, according to a report by Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, and growing at a healthy double-digit pace.

Levi Strauss, which retreated from the China market for a time in the mid-1990s citing concerns over labor rights, now has hundreds of outlets in China and plans to open up to 1,000 by 2015.The company, which also sells Dockers pants and Signature brand products, is honing its focus on China's emerging middle class — a popular strategy in the recession-stricken age of less-is-more in more mature Western markets.

The new label Levis jeans will sell for the equivalent of $40 to $60 — a range likely to suit the relatively young 20-40 age range that dominates China's spending on clothing and accessories.

The first dENIZEN shop will open later this month in Shanghai.