Levi Strauss & Co. Announces New Terms of Engagement for Its Global Supply Chain

May 11, 2011 – San Francisco, CA – Today, Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&Co.) announced a new Terms of Engagement for its global supply chain, moving beyond compliance to help improve the lives of workers in factories around the world. Under the new approach, LS&Co. will require contract factories to help make employees’ lives better by supporting programs for their workers that align with UN Millennium Development goals.

In a speech delivered today at the CERES annual conference, CEO and President John Anderson said: “We are proposing a new apparel industry standard of social, economic, and environmental sustainability that focuses on improving workers’ lives. If our ultimate goal is to improve not just factory conditions, but to make a material difference to the people and communities in our supply chain, then we need a more holistic approach and a more human perspective.”

The speech comes twenty years after Levi Strauss & Co. announced a Terms of Engagement that set a new standard of compliance for vendor factories in the apparel industry. The TOE required manufacturing factories to follow health, safety and environmental standards set by Levi Strauss & Co. This standard – considered pioneering at the time – rapidly became the norm for most companies with a global supply chain.

Anderson argued that companies need to do more to create progress and move the industry forward: “Compliance has us focused on two things: a legalistic standard of “do no harm” and factory-level monitoring and reporting,” said Anderson. “While we’ve made progress in a number of areas over twenty years, the hard truth is that we haven’t made enough progress on improving the everyday lives of the people who make our products.”

A New Terms of Engagement

The company’s new approach will focus on programs that align with the UN Millennium Development Goals [link to http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/] specifically: improving maternal and child health; combating HIV/AIDs, and other diseases; promoting gender equality and empowering women; eradicating extreme poverty and hunger; and ensuring environmental sustainability.

LS& Co. committed to a nine-month advisory process with NGOs, other brands, labor unions and suppliers around the world. At the end of the process, Levi Strauss & Co. will release a white paper for public comment and then will begin implementing the new terms of engagement with suppliers in May 2012.

The company argued that a new terms of engagement is not only the right thing to do, but is good for business: “We are sure that if companies focus not just on the minimum legal requirements, but on a broader vision of social, economic, and environmental sustainability, they will be rewarded,” said Anderson.

Levi Strauss & Co. is a participant in the CERES Investor-Business Roundtable for a Sustainable Economy announced this morning. The company made the commitment as part of a keynote speech delivered at the 2011 CERES Conference. For more information about the Roundtable, visit: ceres.org.

For the full John Anderson speech and more background information, please visit: http://www.levistrauss.com/new-termsofengagement

About Levi Strauss & Co.
Levi Strauss & Co. is one of the world’s largest brand-name apparel companies and a global leader in jeanswear. The company designs and markets jeans, casual wear and related accessories for men, women and children under the Levi’s®, Dockers®, Signature by Levi Strauss & Co.™, and Denizen™ brands. Its products are sold in more than 110 countries worldwide through a combination of chain retailers, department stores, online sites, and franchised and company-owned stores. As of February 27, 2011, the company operated 482 stores within 31 countries. Levi Strauss & Co.’s reported fiscal 2010 net revenues were $4.4 billion. For more information, go to http://levistrauss.com.

Media Contacts

Kelley Benander
415-501-7598
kbenander@levi.com

Sarah Anderson
415-501-7771
sanderson@levi.com

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Levi Strauss & Co. Announces Winner of Design Challenge to Find New, Innovative Ways to Air Dry Clothes

SAN FRANCISCO (August 17, 2010)— A panel of five eco-innovator judges determined yesterday that the winner of Levi Strauss & Co.’s Care to Air Design Challenge was “Nothing Is What It Seems” by designer Caleb Hill of Canada, based on its ingenuity, environmental sustainability, aesthetics and scalability.

Levi Strauss & Co. launched the “Care to Air” Design Challenge on June 1^st to find innovative, covetable and sustainable ways for people to air dry their clothes. After just two months, nearly 140 designs from around the world were submitted for the chance to win up to $10,000 in prizes – and change the way people think about line drying.

The winning design, “Nothing Is What It Seems,” combines art and function to create an environmentally friendly and aesthetically pleasing way to dry clothes. Designer Caleb Hill from Winnipeg, Manitoba, created a unique design that uses a work of art to masquerade a drying rack, which unfolds easily to dry a full load of laundry. The proposed design will be made of salvaged wood and hemp rope. The runner-up in the “Care to Air” design challenge is “The Evaporation Station” by Jeff Munie and Marlow Baca of the United States, which uses a series of nested stainless steel racks. Meant for urban dwellers with limited space, “The Evaporation Station” can be easily mounted on any wall and attractively displayed when not in use.

On August 16, 2010 in San Francisco, at the Levi’s® Workshop in the Mission, each of the six finalists presented their clothes drying design solutions via video presentation (which can be viewed at www.levi.com/care) and participated in a Q&A session with a panel of eco-innovator judges. The panel of judges included David Bolotsky, founder and CEO, UncommonGoods; Paul Bradley, executive creative director, Frog Design; Zem Joaquin, founder and CEO, Eco-Fabulous; Eric Ryan, co-founder and chief brand architect, Method Home; and Doug Sweeny, vice president of marketing, The Levi’s® Brand.

The Levi’s® “Care to Air” contest accepted submissions via its partner Myoo Create, an online crowd-sourcing platform, from June 1 – July 31, 2010 and were narrowed down to six finalists in early August. Three finalists were chosen by the Myoo online community (Inertion Power [Ukraine], LeviTower [Lithuania] and the Strauss Spin ‘n Dry [U.S.A.] and three were selected for their fulfillment of the judging criteria (Hang Anywhere + Aria [U.S.A], the Evaporation Station [U.S.A.] and Nothing is What it Seems [Canada]). The contest also recognized two top community contributors, Dr. Russ Hornstein and Luft, for their positive role in improving submitted designs. Myoo Create hosts competitions that allow mass collaboration in pursuit of a better future. Anyone could participate in this open competition by submitting their own design, contributing feedback on designs or voting for their favorite.

The “Care to Air” contest is the latest initiative from Levi Strauss & Co. designed to engage with consumers about how simple changes in caring for clothes can help the environment. Earlier this year, the company launched the “Care Tag for Our Planet” campaign, changing the product care tags in Levi’s® jeans to include instructions about ways consumers can reduce the environmental impact of their clothes after leaving the store.

Full details about the contest and contest rules can be found at www.levi.com/care.

About Levi Strauss & Co.

Levi Strauss & Co. is one of the world’s largest branded apparel companies and the global leader in jeanswear, marketing its products in more than 110 countries worldwide.  The company designs and markets jeans, casual wear and related accessories for men, women and children under the Levi’s®, Dockers® and Signature by Levi Strauss & Co.™ brands.  Levi Strauss & Co. reported fiscal 2009 net revenues of $4.1 billion.  For more information, go to http://levistrauss.com. 

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