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!

Apr 30 2012

Profits & Principles, By Design

Here’s a striking bit of information I hadn’t heard until seeing it reported Thursday in Women’s Wear Daily: 90 percent of a product’s environmental impact is determined in the design stage.

The observation came from Vincent Stanley of Patagonia, a company long recognized as a leader in the area of sustainable business.

He shared it during an event hosted by the Levi’s® brand and Good at Levi’s® Haus of Strauss in Los Angeles. The event, Designing a Sustainable Future, was billed as a symposium on sustainable design. Vincent joined Levi’s® Erik Joule, Water.org’s Gary White, environmentalist Alexandra Cousteau, and Los Angeles urban planner Jane Choi. Good CEO Ben Goldhirsh moderated.

In the interest of transparency, I’ll tell you that the event was designed, in part, to drive awareness of Levi’s® Water<Less™ jeans, which are made using significantly less water – up to 96 percent less for some styles. That goes back to Vincent’s observation about design’s environmental impact.

I’ll leave the reporting of the evening to those in attendance, including not only WWD’s Khanh T.L. Tran, but also Casey of Rooted and Champagne and Heels’ Hellin Kay. Check out the links for their perspectives.

But I’ll share with you an observation from participant Erik Joule, who leads Levi’s® global merchandising and design. He said the event’s rich discussion reminded him of why he joined Levi’s® in the first place -- for the promise of pioneering a new way of doing business balancing profits and principles, of enabling social change, and the ability to face relevant issues head on.

Not a bad job to wake up to every morning.

Standing Speakers

From left, Jane Choi, Erik Joule, Vincent Stanley, Alexandra Cousteau, Gary White and Ben Goldhirsh

Posted By: Cory Warren, Editor, LS&Co. Unzipped

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Tags: Levi's®,Social Responsibility

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