Kate Middleton and the Levi's guy

 “He wishes. No, I had the Levi's guy on my wall, not a picture of William, sorry.”—Kate Middleton, when asked if she had posters of William on her wall when she was growing up.

Street Artists to design Levi's Trucker jackets

Shepard Fairey’s OBEY Giant on a wall or street sign are everywhere in Providence. Soon, the iconic street artist’s work will be featured on a Levi’s Trucker Jacket as part of the Art in the Streets exhibition at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA).

Ten of America's most important and influential street artists were chosen to design limited-edition trucker jackets, with one from each artist being released every two weeks from April 17 to August 6 based on the chronological order in which the artists began posting (with three coming out in the first week). Each jacket will come packaged in a special commemorative box with the artist’s unique “tag” on it. RISD graduate Fairey’s jacket, Dark Summit Trucker, will go on sale on July 2.

"The uniform of graffiti and street artists"

"Our Trucker Jacket has been an integral part of the uniform of graffiti and street artists for generations," said Robert Hanson, Levi's Brand Global President. "This collaborative project is a special way to celebrate the Trucker Jacket's intrinsic tie to the street art community and culture, as well as MOCA's longstanding leadership in the art world."
All proceeds from sales of the jackets will go towards MOCA and the community programs that it supports. Unfortunately, the jackets will only be sold at MOCA in LA, but savvy Rhode Island shoppers (and Fairey collectors) might consider hopping a cheap flight out west to scoop one up.

Levi's New York Photo Workshop

Levi Strauss 2010 Annual report

http://www.levistrauss.com/lsco/ar2010/

Levi Stauss 2010 Annual Report can be found at the above link.

The Levi's Film workshop in LA

Levi's has Eva jeans for South Africa

The Levi's® Slight Curve jeans are designed to celebrate straight figures while the new Demi Curve best suits the even proportioned figure. The Bold Curve is designed to honour genuine curves and in addition, exclusively to South Africa, the Levi's® Eva jeans - inspired by local fit trials for jeans which address unique South African curves.



To promote this revolutionary approach, Levi's® and partner agencies King James, Dare Media and Primall Media introduce the Curve ID campaign to South Africa as part of the Levi's® Global Women's Initiative. Primall's Digital Ad Screens will continue creating awareness around the Curve ID range in 17 of the county's blue chip malls where Primall holds advertising rights. According to Primall, the campaign is aimed at gaining exposure to women aged 16 to 24 years of age in the LSM 7 - 10 categories.

Primall's Executive Head of Sales and Marketing, Lee Curtis, says, "On the back of the renewal, it's clear that our Digital Ad Screens have increased awareness for the range. It's a natural fit for Levi to promote their campaign in an environment where women spend their time on money and fashion."

Levis and Opening Ceremony

Have you heard of Opening Ceremony?


The American fashion label, created by best-friends-since-college Carol Lim and Humberto Leon, has been featured in magazines such as Vogue and People. The pair designs clothes — often in collaboration with other famous people and labels, including Chloë Sevigny, Repetto, agnés b., Pendleton and Rodarte — that they sell in their Opening Ceremony stores in New York, Los Angeles and Tokyo.
“Every collaboration always started off with a personal experience or story,” says Ms. Lim. “We decided to do something with Levi’s because it’s hard to be American and not have a pair of vintage Levi’s jeans.” Their spring collection of “Levi’s for OC” pays homage to the chambray fabric.

Levi Strauss price cuts lead to lower first-quarter profit

The retailer reported earning $40.7 million in the quarter that ended Feb. 27, down 28% from a year earlier, after slashing prices on its jeans and Dockers khaki pants.

Levi Strauss & Co. reported a lower quarterly profit after cutting prices on its Dockers khaki pants and Levi's jeans to spur sales.Shoppers' resistance to paying full price comes at a time when Levi Strauss and rivals such as Guess Inc. are trying to pass on high cotton costs to customers.

"You're not going to see dramatically lower cotton prices in the next six to 12 months," Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen said. Jorgensen said rising gasoline prices are also feeding consumer resistance, particularly for shoppers with modest incomes.The private company said that first-quarter net income was $40.7 million, down 28% from $56.4 million a year earlier.Gross margin was down 1.7 percentage points to 49.8% of revenue during the holiday quarter on more discounting that Jorgensen attributed to the need "to be fairly aggressive" in generating sales and clearing inventory to make room for spring merchandise.

Levi said it also faces more cautious ordering from department store chains such as Macy's Inc., J.C. Penney Co. and Kohl's Corp., echoing concerns expressed by Guess when it reported results in March.
Jorgensen recognized that the discounts on Dockers show that Levi Strauss still has a way to go in its effort to reinvent that line of pants.
"The battle with Dockers is we're trying to reignite a category that went stale," Jorgensen said. Revenue, including sales and licensing revenues, rose 8.3% to $1.12 billion during the quarter that ended Feb. 27, helped by a surge in sales in Asia and improving wholesale business in the United States.

In the Americas region, where Levi Strauss gets half its business, revenue rose 9%

WildTangent and Levi's

WildTangent announced today its partnership with the Levi's® brand by bringing the Levi's® Curve ID product to a unique new world of shoppers: virtual shoppers playing the popular Facebook game, Mall World. Through WildTangent's collaboration with the Levi's® brand it brings its proprietary ad platform BrandBoost to Mall World. "Shoppers" can earn coveted in-game items by engaging in a Levi's® virtual fit experience to find their perfect, custom fitting Levi's® Curve ID jeans. Players can also earn a pair of virtual Levi's® Curve ID jeans by exploring a new, virtual Levi's® retail store within the social game.




More than six million women and girls play Mall World each month on Facebook. In the game, enterprising types can run their own fashion boutique while fashion-forward trendsetters can shop to their heart's content. In Mall World, WildTangent brings to life Levi's® Curve ID custom fit system that is based on shape and not size by leveraging game developer 50cubes ability to integrate the brand's "Digital Fitting Room" into the game.



WildTangent's BrandBoost platform enables brands to sponsor access to additional playing time or virtual goods that players would otherwise have to pay for. The platform also makes possible the dynamic delivery of branded virtual goods into social games on Facebook. BrandBoost supports third-party ad serving and reporting as well as creative formats ranging from long-form video to social engagement activities.



About WildTangent

WildTangent operates a games service that allows consumers around the world to access downloadable, online and social games through one convenient Games App. Fueled by our digital currency, WildCoins, and a proprietary ad platform, BrandBoost, the service delivers the most cost efficient way to play games. Consumers can rent games, purchase them or play for free courtesy of brand advertisers.

WildTangent also powers advertising for a growing portfolio of third-party game developers and publishers enabling brands to reach more than 100 million monthly players with scalable, engagement-based advertising that enhances gameplay for consumers. BrandBoost is available in top social games on Facebook, massively multiplayer games, and premium flash games. Partners include Digital Chocolate, Crowdstar, Playdom, Sony Online Entertainment and DreamWorks.

Levi's offers skin tight jeans for men

You’ve heard of the boyfriend jean.  But how about the ex-girlfriend?
Clearly eager to bring gender equality to denim, Levi’s has unleashed a new style of super-skinny jeans for men -- the "ex-girlfriend," which plays on the popularity of loose-fitting boyfriend jeans for women.
"As skinny as it gets" is how the Levi’s website describes the ex-girlfriends, denims that look dangerously similar to jeggings (leggings styled to look like jeans).
On the label’s blog, the designers of the pants wrote that the jeans were inspired by a rock band they saw at Austin’s South by Southwest music and film festival."It has never been a secret in the denim design world that guys looking to make a statement with an extra-skinny pair of jeans go straight to the girl’s section," wrote the designers, Casey Egan and JeWon Yu.

"We thought, 'Hey, we can make a pair of women’s jeans for men with a tailored and proper fit.'"

That included loosening up the hip and thigh and allowing the waist to sit low.

"They’ve been the biggest seller since we’ve got them in," says regional manager Elle Epp.
Before the new fit, guys who wanted to go skinny had the option of trying unisex jeans by Just USA or Swedish label Cheap Monday, says Epp. The ex-girlfriends, however, "actually do fit men better," she says. "They have a really skinny leg like a women’s skinny jean, but then they have a little bit more wiggle room in the top area to give guys a little more room to move around." Made with two per cent elastane for a touch of stretch, the $95 jeans "look tighter than they actually feel," says Epp. They come in black and indigo blue washes.

"They totally accentuate the chicken legs," says Joel Bojeczko, stepping gingerly out of the Decadence fitting room in a pair of ex-girlfriends. "They’re cool to walk around in. You wouldn’t run and stuff like that in them. But they’re tight," he says with a chuckle. Bojeczko, who belongs to local rock cover band the Huge Fakers, prefers his jeans slim, not skinny, but he gets why the latter are so popular. "A lot of it has to do with the ’80s comeback, right?"

Super-skinnies, he figures, can be traced back to ’80s punk. Fitted jeans, says Epp, are more flattering. "If you wear the right jean, you can look a bit more clean-cut while being casual." And in her opinion, there’s no such thing as too tight. "If they can walk and not look awkward while they’re walking, they’re good to go."

Some guys even find them — yes — more comfortable. "The tighter (the jean), the more like sweatpants they become," says Jared Sager, who wears skinny jeans every day. "They almost become a second skin." While he likes the idea of the exgirlfriend, the 27-year-old claims to never have had to cop a pair of jeans from a girl. All his skinnies are either men’s or unisex jeans."To me, it’s all about confidence," he says. "If you’re going to do it, you have to rock it."

One of the biggest problems with skinnies, notes Bojeczko, is that "you’re kind of limited to the kind of undergarments you can wear. The boxer shorts don’t fly at all with skinny jeans."
Otherwise, the look isn’t so bad, says the 26-year-old.
"I never thought I had the calf definition to pull off skinny jeans. I think I was born with a curse that makes everything look good," he jokes.

But how tight is too tight?

"Well, nobody wants to see a bulge in their face," he says, laughing."If you were on the bus and there was a bulge next to your face, that would be very uncomfortable, right? That wouldn’t be cool.
"But is there a too tight? If the person’s really comfortable and they’re rocking it out, then who cares, right?"

jfong@edmontonjournal.com

 

Eric Baldwin new global creative director for Wieden+Kennedy Levi's account

Eric Baldwin has become Wieden+Kennedy's global creative director for the Levi's account and will partner with Tyler Whisnand on Levi's.  "We can't wait to see what Eric brings to Levi's. He is an impeccable designer and an inspirational leader," commented co-executive creative director Mark Fitzloff.
Bldwin and his team were responsible in 2010 for Old Spice's "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like"  which won the primetime commercial Emmy as well as the prestigious Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. Baldwin and Allen were part of the creative team behind the lauded, popular follow-up Old Spice "Response" interactive campaign.

Baldwin is originally from St. Louis where he worked as a graphic designer before moving to San Francisco to run the design department at Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners. He moved to  Wieden+Kennedy as an art director in 2006, where he has since produced award-winning work for Old Spice, CareerBuilder.com, and EA.

Levi's Cycling jeans

Jeans giant Levi’s launched its Fall 2011 collection in New York City’s SoHo last week, not an event that would usually register too much here at road.cc were it not for the fact that the brand is launching a new Commuter Cycling Series, which appears to be squarely aimed at those who want to wear denim while on their bike, whether they’re heading off to work or an evening in the pub.
The key piece in the collection appears to be a pair of 511 jeans with specific features to make them more cycling friendly. Those include a utility waistband including D-lock storage, 3M reflective detailing and a higher cut so you’re not showing acres of flesh while out on your bike.
Levi’s PR people in the UK tell us that there are no plans at the moment to bring the range to the UK, so for now, unless you or someone you know is headed to the United States later on this year, they’re going to be difficult to get hold off. We’re looking to get further information on the range, however, and will give an update on that once we get it.

There’s no word as yet on price point, but a quick look at a variety of online retailers in the UK shows standard 511 jeans coming in at between £50 and £80, depending where you shop. That compares to £75 for jeans from Howies up to £150 for Rapha.

US-based clothing brand Outlier has jeans-style trousers from around £75-115, but you have to factor in the costs of shipping plus potential additional costs such as import duty.What Levi’s launch of its range does demonstrate, however, is that with cycling in general, and commuting by bike, on the rise, cycling is moving into the mainstream and big brands are sitting up and taking notice. Where one leads, others inevitably follow, so while the Levi’s range is set to be US-only, at least to begin with, this signal the start of seeing wider availability of cycling-specific clothing on the high street.

Thinking back to Levi’s iconic 501 TV ad featuring Nick Kamen in the 1980s, perhaps the mysterious Mr Opodolous from Eastenders should ask Walford Council to install cycle parking outside the Albert Square launderette, just in case