LS&Co. Unzipped
Jun 24 2010
Braddock, PA 15104
When you Google “Braddock, Pennsylvania,” the search results feature terms like “distressed municipality,” “boarded-up storefronts,” and “high unemployment.”
Braddock won’t be making any magazine’s list of “most livable towns” anytime soon.
At its height, it was quite the place. Andrew Carnegie built his first steel mill here. And a library. Immigrants arrived to work in the mill and, ultimately, give their children better lives.
But with the decline of the steel industry, residents left. The town that boasted some 20,000 people now has fewer than 3,000.
A website gallery shows the town’s ruins. Amazing architecture lost to time and neglect.
But there’s hope here -- in the work of Mayor John Fetterman and others, who are leveraging new ideas and energy to spark economic revitalization.
There’s commitment here, too. The mayor has the town’s ZIP code tattooed on his arm: 15104.
As it takes some radical steps to reverse its decay, Braddock is the muse for Levi’s® new Ready to Work campaign, which will feature the people of Braddock doing real work in their town.
To contribute to the real change in Braddock, the Levi’s® brand is committed to funding the refurbishment of Braddock’s community center, a focal point of the town and their youth-based programming. Additionally, Levi’s® is supporting Braddock’s urban farm which supplies produce to local area residents at reduced costs.
What the people of Braddock are proving is that decay and destruction don’t always mean the end, a point of no return. They can also be a frontier, a place to start anew.
We’re proud to be a small part of the hard work being done in Braddock. We know this town in Pennsylvania – and the people who live here – can be an inspiration to the nation as a whole. Look for more on Braddock here in the weeks to come.
Posted By: Cory Warren, Editor, LS&Co. Unzipped |
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Tags: Levi's® |
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You know our product – particularly Levi’s® and Dockers® – but we’re betting there’s a lot about Levi Strauss & Co. you don’t know.
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shea vaughn (not verified) - Aug 28 2010
i loved this experience, it was so amazing...!!! the photograph above, is of my husband and I. and the whole shoot, all he could think about was experiencing this with me and being able to model in one of his favorite cars! heh.. [...] we loved [the] phtographers . it was so fun working with them; my husband and i had technically finished our shoot when we realized that everyone was still shooting us saying, "you guys are just so magical; i could photograph you all day long!" so on him and i went, day dreaming and flirting. plus the money we made from the whole thing was a nice "stress - reliever".. one thing we did with the money, was buy a dog, whom we named levi strauss(-vaughn), =) for our daughter's first birthday. thank you [to everyone involved] and to Joe for stopping us to come to the casting call.. and of course thank you Levi!!!
Editor's note: Thanks, Shea! What a great comment! I will pass it along to those involved with the shoot. By the way, I edited your comment to remove some of the proper names.
Steve Yoder (not verified) - Aug 18 2010
What an inspiring Mayor! Just saw him on The Colbert Report. Braddock has every reason to be proud of what lies ahead; with leadership like that, the future can only be bright! Good luck and God bless all you Braddock folk!
john sparks (not verified) - Aug 17 2010
Is it correct that the " Made in USA" levi's for Brook's brothers don't actually use USA denim ?
Editor's note: Hi John. Thanks for the question. Nothing to hide here. Yes, the materials used in producing these jeans are imported. We mentioned this in the LS&Co. Unzipped post when the line was launched and, also, in our news release. And if you visit the Brooks Brothers website, you'll also see the words, "of imported fabric," placed prominently on the main Levi's® collection page -- albeit in smaller type than, "Made in the USA."
joe w (not verified) - Aug 11 2010
I used to live right outside this place I had to drive home from work around 3 in the morning. This place is rough I used to run red lights and stop signs for fear that I would get mugged. this wasn't some fear of bad people in bad places that was unwarranted due to rumors and media hype. but rather due to the fact that on two occassions while stopped my car got surrounded and I was forced to stomp the gas for fear of my life. this town has much history and hard working people left to fend for themselves due to industry wide budget cuts. they are forced into poverty with no hopes of future employment or enough money to feed their families. so much history lies in this area and it needs to be tapped into and ressurected to help establish a more sustainable economy for the people who have fought hard to survive here. It inspires me that someone has taken notice of the magnitude of future possibilities of this small dying town.
Megan Sheehan (not verified) - Aug 06 2010
A real show of support for this country would to bring Levis jobs back to the United States and to actually make your jeans -- which you tout as being an emblem of "Americana" -- truly American. I actually find the ad insulting, since it is the mass exodus of jobs to other countries that is the reason, in part, for the demise of our economy.
Editor's note: Thanks, Megan, for your comment. We are a proud American company, headquartered for more than 155 years in San Francisco. We do continue to produce some premium products in the United States. (Perhaps you saw our recent announcement with Brooks Brothers.) The competitive reality of the global apparel business means that most apparel for the entire industry is produced outside the United States. Additionally, we sell our products in 110 countries around the world, so we need our production to be as global as our business. To the extent we can partner with the people of Braddock, we're proud to do so. I appreciate your reading the blog, Megan, and for weighing in with your thoughts.
Joe (not verified) - Jul 13 2010
Levi's' commitment to "refurbish" Braddock's community center, along with its "support" (financial? moral?) of the urban farm is nice, but is that enough from a company that promotes itself as the embodiment of Americana? The city is struggling not because it lacks a community center. It struggles because in Braddock, like so much of America, industry has moved to countries where cheap labor is easily exploited and left entire towns and cities without sustainable work. To truely live up to the grand image the Go Forth campaign creates, why not bring manufacturing jobs back to the US? Why not put a Levi's factory in Braddock? Why not show Stefan Sagmeister's work in Braddock, rather than New York? Levi's creates a nice-looking commercial, sure, but do they mean what they say? Are they the pioneers, committed to America, it's people, and their communities? I don't think so. So while the use of Wagner's music is uplifting, the thrill that maybe the situation of Braddock and countless like it is changeable is ultimately fleeting, and in its place is left that heavy feeling in your chest that comes with unemployment and being lied to so often. As this campaign progresses, we should all search the tags of our denim to see where the garment was made, and based on what we find there - namely, evidence of Levi's commitment to employing the American working class, or the lack thereof - should we build our commitment for this iconic label.
Tracy (not verified) - Jul 09 2010
Great news! I was born in the recently closed Braddock hospital. So was every member of my family and most of my Pgh friends and their parents. John Fetterman is truly a blessing to the town! Thank You to Levi's for noticing a lost town and helping to begin bringing Braddock back to its glory.
Sam (not verified) - Jun 27 2010
I heard that the new "we are all workers" campaign has exciting installations by renowned Stephan Sagmeister and his designers...true???
Editor's note: You’ve heard correctly! Designer Stefan Sagmeister IS working on what I hear are some very cool art installation pieces. They will live in New York and, of course, Levi's® hometown of San Francisco. Each piece is unique, and Stefan built them exclusively for this campaign. Timing: later this summer. So keep your eyes peeled — and let us know if you see them!
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