LS&Co. Unzipped
Oct 06 2011
More Jeans. Less Water.
I've always believed that businesses not only have the ability to change the world -- they have a duty to do so.
It's this belief that has led me through my career. And to Levi's. To change things.
Let me give you an example.
Last year, we announced the Levi’s® Water<Less™ collection – denim finished in a way that uses significantly less water. Up to 96 percent less for some products.
As a result of this innovative process, we produced nearly 1.5 million pairs of jeans for this year's spring line while saving 16 million liters of water.
But we knew we could do more. So we’ve been working with our suppliers around the globe to spread these water-saving techniques.
And we’re proud to say that the Levi’s® global collection now includes nearly 12 million jeans in the Americas, Europe and Asia. Since we introduced the Water<Less collection, we have saved 156 million liters of water around the world. That’s 60 million days of drinking water for communities in need.
How’d we get to this point? By something we call the “know-nothing” approach. It’s based on words Socrates said more than 2,000 years ago: "I know that I know nothing."
That idea has led me through my career and plays a big role in my job as the head of Global Merchandising and Design for the Levi’s® brand. And I’ve encouraged my team to adopt it – using “fresh eyes” to rethink how we design and make our product.
That’s exactly how our Water<Less™ collection was born.
As a business, we’ve been working hard to reduce our products’ impact on the environment. Last year, we saw opportunities within our design process to make our iconic products more sustainable, while still retaining the same craftsmanship and style you’ve come to expect from our brand.
Using our “know nothing” approach, we looked at our denim finishing process, and asked ourselves a few key questions: If we started manufacturing jeans today, would we do it the same way? Would we put less water in the stone-washing machines or would we use them dry, with no water? Could we combine machine-washing cycles?
Could we make the same stylish jeans using less water?
Yes, we could. And we did. We’re making more Water<Less™ jeans, and we’re using less water than with conventional methods.
Are we changing the world?
We’re trying – one pair of jeans (well, actually 12 million pairs) at a time.
Posted By: Erik Joule, SVP, Levi's® Global Merchandising & Design |
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Sandeep (not verified) - Oct 06 2011
Hi Erik, I think that's a great initiative and would be emulated by others. Keep it up ! Here is a post on my site for this initiative http://www.denimsandjeans.com/denim/12-million-waterless-jeans-from-levi...
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