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!

Feb 17 2011

Around the World: Doing the Right Thing Matters

The competition between the two neighboring shoe factories reached the point a few years ago where the owners refused to talk to each other.Until last month’s fire.It was about 5 o’clock in the morning when the blaze broke out in the small Brazilian town of Picada Café. It started at the Cooper Shoes factory. If something wasn’t done quickly, both it and the Sugar Shoes factory located next door, would easily be destroyed.Here’s where it gets interesting.

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Posted By: Choke Huckuntod, Levi Strauss & Co. Social & Environmental Sustainability

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Feb 09 2011

Fighting for Change

“If my grandmother, who lived and cleaned houses in Jim Crow South, would’ve ever been told that her granddaughter would get paid to talk about freedom, she wouldn’t have believed it.”

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Posted By: Daniel Lee, Executive Director, Levi Strauss Foundation

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Feb 04 2011

Worn-Out Art

Leave it to art students to turn worn-out blue jeans into works of art.The students are from the San Francisco Art Institute. And they worked with us on a unique case study. The focus? Sculpture and sustainability. The medium? Recycled denim.Over the course of their four-week intensive, Sustainable Sculpture, the students met and talked with Levi Strauss & Co. experts. We shared what we know about sustainability, the life cycle of our products, denim design and production.

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

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Feb 01 2011

Hand-Crafted Surfing

Danny Hess makes his surfboards the old fashioned way: by hand, one-at-a-time, with wood. It’s his passion.
 
And a lot of the surfers who borrow one for a test ride end up buying one. That helps Danny keep his passion alive.
 
He tells his story himself much better than I ever could. In this Dockers® video, you’ll learn how Danny took a chance...and now earns his living…doing something he loves.

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

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Jan 27 2011

Ordinary People. Amazing Stories

In Tuesday’s State of the Union address, President Obama talked about America being “the story of ordinary people who dare to dream.”Hard-working people are striving to overcome adversity all the time, right in our own backyard. Imagine, for example, purchasing your own home only months after being on the verge of homelessness. That’s exactly what Helena Edwards did -- with some help from EARN, a Bay Area non-profit that helps low-income families build prosperity by matching their savings.

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Posted By: Matt Silva, Levi Strauss Foundation Communications Fellow, EARN

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Jan 05 2011

Cutting Carbon in the World's Workshop

When you buy something made in China, chances are it was made where I live, in the Pearl River Delta, one of the fastest growing regions in the world.The Delta is made up of Hong Kong, Macao and nine municipalities in the Guangdong Province of Mainland China. It’s a major manufacturing base for garments and textiles, electronics, toys, and much more. In fact, there’s so much manufacturing here, the Pearl River Delta is sometimes called “the world’s workshop.”

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Posted By: Karen Ho, WWF-Hong Kong

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Dec 14 2010

In Appreciation - Richard C. Holbrooke

The death, Monday, of Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke was felt around the world, including here at Levi Strauss & Co.Ambassador Holbrooke galvanized the corporate HIV/AIDS movement as president and CEO of the Global Business Coalition. He led the organization from 2001 to 2009, a time of unprecedented global growth of corporate commitment to those in need and at risk from HIV/AIDS.Simply put, Ambassador Holbrooke played a visionary role in bringing HIV/AIDS to the forefront of the global agenda.

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Posted By: Paurvi Bhatt, Senior Director, LS&Co. Strategic Health Initiatives

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Dec 09 2010

Smile and Say "Cool!"

We don’t normally let others do our blogging for us, but we’ll make an exception this time.The folks at the Levi’s® Photography Workshop this week held a private photo shoot for students at New York’s Hetrick-Martin Institute.HMI provides a safe learning environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth from 12-21 years.

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

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Dec 01 2010

Lesotho - Part 2

If you’ve ever spent any time in Lesotho, in the heart of South Africa, you’ll know that in many ways it’s still a developing country . It’s also a place where people work to make some of our products.

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Posted By: Thulani Duma, Regional Senior Specialist, LS&Co. Social & Environmental Sustainability

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Dec 01 2010

Scenes From An Epidemic

Here’s the scene: A soccer camp for the children of Levi’s employees in South Africa. In addition to sharpening their skills, the kids also learn about HIV/AIDS. Judging from the questions they ask, it’s clear the kids don’t discuss this issue with their parents or teachers. It’s good they had this opportunity.Another scene: An HIV/AIDS training session for Levi’s retail employees in South Africa. A counselor offers an HIV test to anyone interested. Several of the female team members agreed. None of the guys did. Still, the offer stands.

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Posted By: Dominique Durward, Levi's Training and Development, Cape Town

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