LS&Co. Unzipped

Welcome to our blog. Here’s where you’ll find a “behind-the-seams” look at what’s going on with Levi Strauss & Co. You’ll hear from a variety of voices, from both inside and outside the company. And you have the chance to share your thoughts. So read on — and weigh in!

Oct 05 2010

Innovation at Risk

Innovation may not be the first word that comes to mind when you think about Levi Strauss & Co., but it’s as much as part of us as cotton and zippers.

After all, it takes a lot of innovation for the company that invented blue jeans to remain a global apparel leader more than a century later – known for not only what we make, but also how we make it.

We incorporate innovation in everything from new product finishes to the way we remodeled our home office building. From our new Levi’s® Curve ID jeans for women – based on fit, not size – to how we encourage consumers to save energy by washing their clothes in cold water and hanging them to dry.

It’s about going forward, not backward; leading, not following.

That’s why we oppose a proposition on the California ballot this November.

Proposition 23 would eliminate critical tools recently put in place to promote energy efficiency. It would discourage energy and climate innovation by making it more expensive for businesses to invest in necessary research and development. It would turn back the clock by removing incentives intended to move us ahead.

Four years ago, lawmakers here passed a law – the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32) – that helped promote the clean technology industry and clean energy businesses. Even if you don’t live here, you stand to benefit – just as people everywhere benefited from the technological advances of the high-tech boom, which was largely centered in California. And just as we in California benefit from forward thinking elsewhere.

Prop 23 would essentially halt the benefits of California’s innovative climate change law. To me, that’s backward thinking. And it’s not the kind we support at Levi Strauss & Co.

We’re not alone. Other California-based global brands stand with us on this issue: eBay, Clif Bar, The North Face and Gap Inc. 

If you’re a California voter, I hope you’ll join us in opposing Prop 23. If you’re not, I’d simply suggest that you keep an eye on our November election results – to see if we continue to keep innovation alive and moving forward.

Posted By: Amy Leonard, Senior Vice President, Supply Chain, Levi Strauss & Co.

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Tags: Planet,Public Policy,Social Responsibility

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Mike Foster (not verified) - Apr 29 2011

How much in tax payer money is Levi Strauss & Co. getting for their part in this myth called global warming, Oh that's not PC and does not fit the Progressive/Marxist program today, it's Climate change. Guess what? the climate has been going through changes sense the creation of the planet. Please use some common sense, do the research and compare the 50's-60's-70's to today and you will see that we do not have an environmental problem, what we have is a leftist problem driven by people who hate this country as well as capitalism and you're just playing right along with them. Also, there are climatologist who have been saying that the earth is in a prolonged period of cooling. So, what is the real motivation behind Levi Strauss & Co. supporting this myth of Al Gore's ?

Editor's note: Hi Mike, and thanks for your note. Clearly, the company's position on this issue and yours are on opposite sides of the spectrum. For what it's worth, I'll point you to the Pew Center's website on Global Climate Change. I'm certainly no expert, but there's some interesting content here.

Dorothy (not verified) - Oct 08 2010

You said: It would discourage energy and climate innovation by making it more expensive for businesses to invest in necessary research and development. Can you identify the policy that would be suspended that would raise your costs for R&D?

Editor's note: Thanks for the question. We were speaking generally about research and development in California. It's Levi Strauss & Co.'s position that the passage of AB 32 in 2006 helped spur rapid growth of the clean technology industry -- and related jobs -- in the state. Investment in such technology benefits from a stable and predictable policy environment. Investor capital could migrate elsewhere if the policies encompassed by AB 32's implementation are overturned.

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