LEVIS STRAUSS & CO. JEANS
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Levis Strauss & Co. Jeans
Denim jeans are some of the types of jeans that are very common in the United States of America due to their quality over a very long period. Levis Strauss & co. have developed in 1853 and the brand has acquired a lot of trust over that period.it can be classified as respecting most of the fair trade regulations and therefore it is part of the international fair trade as well as the fair trade of the united states. The company after it was founded specialized in making jeans for those who were highly involved in activities that were rough and therefore needed clothes that could withstand those conditions and at the same time protecting them. Therefore the founders got a solution to this problem by coming up with denim jeans which helped the workers especially those who worked in the mining industry very much. However, with its development, the company has become a fashion company with a lot of people desiring jeans and putting them on almost daily. This paper, therefore, discusses Levis Strauss and co. history, how they adhere to fair trade, and the type of jeans they make(Downey, 2007).
In 1853 Levis Strauss was a German immigrant into the US and hoped to open a branch of their brand. Therefore he went to the United States and tried to open the branch in San Francisco. However, when he was going on with his business he realized that there was something which was lacking among the individuals and that was strong enough clothes to make the workers be able to push on without the worry of their clothes. Therefore this was the birth of levis denim jeans as he decides to come up with clothes that could support the workers and enable them to do what they needed to do without the stress of clothes being unable to take them through. He came together with Jacob Davis from Nevada and who was a tailor to come up with the first pair of jeans made up of brown cotton duck and blue denim. Therefore they began making jeans and enabling the workers who were doing their jobs in difficult places or in places whereby it was not easy for a person to go with a soft cloth to begin working normally without the worry of the clothes (Preece et al, 1995).
They met in 1872 and after they had worked for this for a year they decided to begin a company and patent their product. The first jean they had made was called xx and it was what they presented to the US patent and trademark offices at that time and therefore they were approved as their own. They were known for the kind of quality and strong clothes they were making. Therefore patent number 139,121 was granted to Levi Strauss & Co. the logo of the company was first used on their jeans in 1886 and it is still used even up to today. In 1890 they had their original denim jean and it was one of the most famous jeans even up to the present date. In 1895 they introduced bicycle pants just before the p[assing on of Levis Strauss. After his passing his 4 nephews took over the business. One of the main activities of the company at this time was serving the poor and helping the needy and this was a very noble thing to do as it was the wish of the founder of the company (Olson, 2006).
After a while, there was an earthquake that destroyed its headquarters. They continued with their operation normally by opening temporary offices and the salaries of their workers continued normally. With time they opened new offices in Valencia. In 1908 they had the horse trademark registered and they began their global reach with sales in Australia and South Africa. During the 20th century, their development was very vast and fast. During its first quarter, it registered so many different types of trademarks. However, the main question comes into how they transitioned from work clothes to being worn as part of fashion (Downey, 2007).
One of the major contributing factors towards this was cowboys in the 1930s whereby authentic cowboys were wearing these jeans and therefore from then people began accepting these types of jeans as completely okay and normal to be worn as part of fashion.
However, all the time before 1930 jeans were only for men. therefore all the jeans which the company made in the period before 1934 none of them were for a woman. However, in 1930 the first pair of jeans for a woman was made. It was made with pre-shrunk denim and it consisted of a lot of men’s features. The company also got into some kind of problems during the war which was happening from 1941. This is because the company had to obey the war production board. This alongside other factors made the brand experience different environments(Vrontis, & Vronti, 2004).
In the 1950s however, the company experienced down moments as denim jeans were banned in schools. This was because denim was portrayed as juvenile delinquents in movies and tv shows. Therefore it was not allowed for the jeans to be worn in school because they were believed to show the bad influence and that every person who worn them was to get into the same bad behavior which was portrayed in the TVs and shows(Vrontis, & Vronti, 2004).
In 1954 with the introduction of the levis family line there was a huge transition as now what was once known as work only wear was turned into casual wear. This was very much welcomed by different people. The company continued with its efforts to provide clothing to all types of people and not only those who were working. Therefore in the 1980s they even made sports clothes for athletes in the Olympic Games.
History is something of great importance to Levis Strauss and co. for example in 1989 they documented the 150+ of the company and kept it neatly in their archives which are at the headquarters in san-Francisco. In 2011 the company introduced levis waterless which is a far much better type of jeans since the amount of water it uses in cleaning is very little as compared to other types of jeans produced before 2011. The company continues to exist and it was be stated to be one of the best companies when it comes to jeans (Olson, 2006).
The mission of the company is sustaining responsible commercial success as a global marketing company of branded apparel. The major tenets of the mission statement are balancing profitability and return on investment, they also enhance leadership and try as much as possible to make their products and services of the best quality. The vision focuses on informing people that they are the embodiment of their energies and events of their lives, it also states something to do with pioneering and therefore they can be stated as pioneers of jeans (Vrontis, & Vronti, 2004).
The first product made by the company was called blue jeans which currently are known as denim jeans. It was made from denim and it was riveted clothing. Most of the jeans and almost all the products of Levis Strauss and co. are qualified for fair trade. This is because the manner of making doesn’t hurt the people making them and it also appeals to the international regulations of production like creating opportunities for economically disadvantaged producers, transparency and accountability, fair trading practices, payment of a fair price for their products, ensuring no child labor or forced labor, commitment to non-discrimination, gender equity, and women’s empowerment, freedom of association, ensuring good working conditions, providing capacity building, promoting fair trade and respect to the environment.
Economically disadvantaged producers in this case can be referred to as the producers of cotton whom the company has to treat well. From history, the company has always treated the suppliers with maximum respect and especially those who are of lower economic ability and groups as long as they provide quality cotton to the company for the making of jeans. The company is also widely known for its accountability and openness. This means that statements and all other types of transactions are made one especially when accounting happens within the year. The company is also involved in fair trading since it does not hate or destroy competitors but rather competes with them favorably and the company that appeals to those it appeals to sells to them without much influence on the other small companies by such a big and old company (Costello & Reddy, 2020).
There is no reported instance of child labor in the work of this company and therefore it upholds children’s safety and protection. The costs of the jeans are fairly priced and therefore affordable to a large group of individuals.
In conclusion, this is one of the companies with the highest fair trade ranking. Even though every company has its own mistakes and negativities this company has tried to work and reduce that with time. Therefore it is one of the best apparel companies and specifically jeans.
References
Costello, M., & Reddy, S. L. (2020). Sustainability efforts of denim brands Mud Jeans and Levi Strauss & Co. Sustainability in Fashion, 1(1).
Downey, L. (2007). Levi Strauss and Co. Arcadia Publishing.
Olson, N. (2006). Levi Strauss and Blue Jeans. Capstone.
Preece, S., Fleisher, C., & Toccacelli, J. (1995). Building a reputation along the value chain at Levi Strauss. Long Range Planning, 28(6), 88-98.
Vrontis, D., & Vronti, P. (2004). Levi Strauss: an international marketing investigation. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal.
