Imitation: The sincerest form of flattery

Levi’s diapers

Vintage Levi's Ads

Levi’s guy

L. Jonas and Levi's

Levi's Guy walks across America

Karl Gensberg reports- The new Levi's Girl

The Levi’s brand has chosen one Meghan Smith as its first Levi’s Girl. Smith, now living in bohemian splendor – presumably – in the People’s Republic of Brooklyn, NY (my uncle, a real estate lawyer, calls it that) will be the online personality targeting women. The company says she won by creating a two-minute video through Levi’s Facebook app to get the six-month paid position in the Levi’s marketing department.


Smith will get an immersion course in Levi’s marketing with a focus on social media efforts. She will also be “Style Ambassador” for Levi’s Women, which means she will post looks and designs online, and “channel her ideas, outlook and discoveries to millions of people around the world.” Which sounds like she’s angling for L. Ron Hubbard’s job.

Smith, who alas, will be leaving us Brooklynites for San Francisco (don’t ask my uncle what he thinks of that) will also cover news and live events for the brand.



Copied directly from Raw news

Summertime, Levi's time

Levi Strauss Foundation

Levis Strauss & CO. and the Levi Strauss Foundation have been Save the Children supporters for close to twenty years. Levi Strauss & CO. employees have kindly donated to Save the Children through the Company’s workplace campaign since 1985, which the foundation generously matches. Levis Strauss & CO. and the Levi Strauss Foundation have also issued grants and contributions for our U.S. programs in Appalachia, and most recently, for our relief and reconstruction efforts in Indonesia. All told, Save the Children has been the recipient of over $350,000 from Levis Strauss & CO. and the Levi Strauss Foundation and we are most grateful for their continued friendship.

Levi Strauss Foundation - Their mission

A company that gets it!

The Levi Strauss Foundation advances the human rights and well being of underserved people touched by our business by taking courageous risks, supporting innovative community partnerships, and promoting the practice of good corporate citizenship.

Levi Strauss & Co. Elects Fernando Aguirre to Its Board

From Business Wire Magazine....................

SAN FRANCISCO, Jul 21, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&Co.) today announced the election of Fernando Aguirre, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Chiquita Brands International, Inc., to its board of directors effective October 1.

"Throughout his career, Fernando has successfully led large, global consumer brands," said LS&Co. Chairman Richard Kauffman. "He understands how to translate consumer insights into strategies that drive growth across cultures. Fernando's experience as a successful brand-builder and global leader will bring tremendous insights to our board deliberations."

Aguirre, 52, joined Chiquita Brands International, Inc., in 2004. Since taking over as Chiquita's CEO, he has led the company's strategic business transformation, leveraging the strong equity of the company's brands around the world, expanding into new markets and products and acquiring other top food companies to secure Chiquita's position as an international leader in fresh foods. Before joining Chiquita, Aguirre spent 23 years at Procter & Gamble Company in a number of senior leadership roles where he managed multimillion-dollar global consumer businesses and help set the company's global strategic direction as a member of its Global Leadership Council. He earned his B.S. in Business Administration at Southern Illinois University.

Unbuttoned Levi’s

What does the recent report of losses mean?

Levi Strauss & Co. said its fiscal second-quarter widened as the jeans maker recorded financing costs and write-downs on deferred tax assets, masking higher revenue and gross-margin improvement. They certainly took a hit in this environment and financial meltdown but the company is very healthy.


The company has said it expects its strong cash position to improve and fund ambitious retail growth plans over the next two years. Levi, which specializes in riveted denim jeans and different lines of casual and street fashion, ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $353.1 million, up 31% from a year earlier.

On Tuesday, John Anderson , president and chief executive said the latest results proved Levi was benefiting from the company's investments in its business in recent years. "We are seeing the benefit of our investments in the business over recent years," Mr. Anderson said. "The Levi's brand is performing well, and consumers are responding to our more innovative products."

In April, Fitch Ratings touted the company's considerable liquidity and minimal debt maturities, as well as its well-known brand names and wide geographic diversity. The ratings agency warned margins would be pressured this year as the company expands globally, but should improve in 2011 and beyond. Still, gross margin managed to grow in the latest quarter, widening to 51.1% from 45.9% due to the increased contribution from company-operated retail stores, which Levi says typically generate a higher margin than the wholesale business. For the quarter ended May 30, Levi's loss widened to $14.4 million from $4.1 million. I think this reflects the updating and investment in its own brands.

Net sales jumped 8% to $976.5 million. Sales rose 8% in the Americas, where Levi does the bulk of its business. I think this is in direct response to new advertising initiatives that are catching the public's attention. The new marketing approaches are working. Asia Pacific sales were up by the same amount, while Europe's sales grew 9%.

The company said operating income for the second quarter increased to $69 million from $56 million in the year-earlier quarter, but the 23% gain was stemmed mainly from the favorable impact of foreign-currency translations. Selling, general and administrative expenses for the second quarter increased to $430 million from $359 million in the same period of 2009.

Levi’s Indian Ad

Levi’s ad

Last Levi's ad by Bartle, Bogle and Hegarty

Bartle, Bogle and Hegarty announced that they would no longer create advertising for Levi Strauss and I searched for the last television as that they did for the company. It was memorable but it was in 2008. They have represented Levi's since 1982.

India- the Tiger Roars!

501

Levi's Workshops

Levi's have been worn by the craftsmen, laborers and artisans which shaped the energy and events of our times. This week, the Levi's brand celebrates a new generation of pioneers and creative communities across the country with the launch of Levi's Workshops. Levi's Workshops will encourage global involvement through a dedicated website, various social media platforms and syndicated daily content. The website will launch alongside the San Francisco Workshop in early July. Original content supported by articles from renowned guest bloggers will be posted daily, in addition to updates on Twitter, Facebook and Flickr. Supporting the written content will be a series of films highlighting the spirit of the Levi's Workshops. These films will be a catalyst for spreading the message of the Levi's Workshops while documenting the activity happening inside each environment. The website will also include opportunities to purchase Levi's products offered in the Levi's Workshops. Taking a new, innovative approach to integrating community involvement with retailing, the first Levi's Workshop debuts this week in San Francisco followed by a second expression of the program later this fall in New York City. The Levi's Workshops will be multi-use spaces, featuring a functional workshop, community event space and retail storefront. Each Workshop is designed to focus on a specific craft including printmaking in the San Francisco Workshop and photography in the New York City shop.


The Levi's Workshops will serve as community-based extensions of the brand's Go Forth marketing campaign, paying homage to the principles of hard work and civic engagement. Central to the Workshop program will be collaborations with recognized pioneers from each community. For eight weeks, each Levi's® Workshop will open its doors to the general public and host a range of interactive demonstrations, educational programming and events.

The first of the Levi's Workshops will open to the public this week in San Francisco's Mission district, just down the street from one of Levi's® original factories. Located at 580-582 Valencia Street, the Workshop will feature letterpress, silkscreen and photocopy equipment for local artists and designers to create their own print-based artwork. Community groups and non-profit organizations will also be invited to access these resources and work with the Workshop staff. The space will also offer Levi's® denim and workwear product that embodies the spirit and craft of print design.

To leverage the energy of the Levi's Workshops, the brand has invited local pioneers to execute printmaking-based collaborations including:

•Alice Waters - chef, author and proprietor of Chez Panisse Restaurant in Berkeley, California. Waters is also the Vice President of Slow Food International and a leader of the culinary philosophy based on using only the freshest organic products served in season. Waters' commitment to education led to the creation of The Edible Schoolyard, a one-acre garden and adjacent kitchen classroom at Berkeley's Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School which has grown into a national program. For her collaboration with the Levi's® Workshops, Waters is working with a longtime design collaborator to create an educational poster for the Edible Schoolyard. "Levi's® is bringing together art, food and the local community," said Alice Waters. "This is what Chez Panisse has always been about and what excites me most about the Levi's® Workshops."

•Craig Newmark – an Internet entrepreneur best known for founding the San Francisco-based website Craigslist.org, a site where people can help each other with everyday needs including housing and jobs searches. The site embraces a culture of trust, based on shared values. Newmark's resume includes thirty years working with computers for leading companies including IBM, GM, Charles Schwab & Co., and Bank of America. Newmark has partnered with the Levi's® Workshops, combining his expertise in digital media with manual printmaking to share powerful messages.

•Aaron Rose – artist, film director, curator and writer. Rose directed the documentary film Beautiful Losers (2008) and recently completed the short documentary film Become a Microscope based on the life of the 1960s artist/activist nun Sister Corita. Rose's publishing imprint Alleged Press releases hardcover books by contemporary artists. Levi's® Workshops celebrates his pioneering work as an advocate for positive creative voices in the arts. "I am thrilled to be able to bring the work of Sister Corita to the Levi's® Workshops in San Francisco," said Rose. "Corita is a huge inspiration to me, and hopefully will have the same effect on the people who take part in our workshop."

"The Levi's® Workshops celebrate the pioneering spirit and hard work of people and organizations that we admire," said Joshua Katz, head of Collaborations, Partnerships & Creative Concepts for the Levi's® brand. "It's all about community, creativity and collaboration. Through the programming, the various production projects and the public resources that we are providing, we are able to collaborate with local heroes who have mastered their craft while inviting in the broader community to roll up their sleeves and get to work."

For more information about Levi's® Workshops and a full list of events, please visit http://workshops.levi.com.

Levi's Pioneer Sessions

Supporting the Companies that do it right

One of the few really impactful actions that we can all take is to support companies which are trying to do it right, in effect voting with your dollars to create the world you want to live in. After having studied Levi's pretty thoroughly for an MBA course I think that they are doing a good job of trying to be good global citizens. If you are going to buy jeans or other denim items, you are unlikely to regret supporting this company. It is scrutinizing and appears to be actin upon its own carbon footprint, its pollution contributions, its labor policies and its international impact. I would give it an A- with my only reservation being the thrust of some of the Asian commercals. I'd like to see Levi's endorse international understanding just a bit more but that is probably less likely to be edgy or controversial.

Ben Affleck in Levi's

Levi's - The bottom line

Dockers for women