Other Levi Strauss Products

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The Creation of Levi Jeans

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The life of Levi Strauss is a U.S. success story. A German who immigrated to America in 1847 at age twenty, Levi Strauss began by selling needles, thread, and buttons in New York. On the invitation of his brother-in-law, he sailed to San Francisco in 1853.

Gold had been discovered in California a few years before, and the Gold Rush had begun. The population exploded as more and more people came to try to get rich overnight. Suddenly, thousands of people started mining for gold. Strauss noticed that the miners complained that their pants were always tearing easily and that the pockets ripped apart as soon as one put a few nuggets¹ in them.

Strauss saw a business opportunity. He began making pants out of some heavy brown canvas he had brought to use for tents or wagon covers. These new pants were stiff, but they sold briskly. When the original fabric was used up, Strauss sent to Europe for more. What he got was a lighter, more flexible fabric from Nimes, France, called "serge de Nimes." This cloth, which became known as denim, proved even more useful for pants, since it was just as strong but much more comfortable. With indigo, the pants were dyed the familiar blue colour.

Miners still complained of problems with their pockets. On the advice of Nevada tailor Jacob Davis, Strauss went to a blacksmith and had the jeans pockets reinforced with metal rivets. In 1873 they patented² the popular innovation. The rivets, along with the patterned stitching on the hip pockets, became Levi trademarks.

Levi Strauss & Co. has continued to flourish. Since those early days, it has been a leader in the garment industry. Jeans have become desirable and even fashionable clothing for not only miners, farmers, and cowboys, but also for movie stars, executives, women, children, and teenagers from all over the world. The company is still run by descendants of Levi Strauss. Robert Haas, who heads up the Tailored Classics division, is the great-great-grandnephew of the founder. The company now markets a wide range of clothing and accessories, all under the brand name Levi's. Many new Levi products have been launched over the years. The company is still best known, however, as the maker of Levi jeans, the pants that are guaranteed to shrink³ wrinkle, and fade⁴.

Notes:

8. small lumps of rock with gold;

9. legally registered as company property;

10. become smaller after washing;

11. lose colour.

The original and most famous Levi Strauss product is blue jeans. Throughout its history, however, the company has researched and developed a number of other products. Some of these have succeeded beautifully, but others have flopped completely.

In 1954, flushed with the success of the cotton pants it had introduced a few years earlier, Levi brought out a line of permanent press (no-iron) trousers (slacks). Within six months, 5 out of every 100 pairs sold had been returned, and Levi had to admit it didn't have the right fabric for permanent press. Fifteen years later, as the company was planning its major expansion, it hit on a couple of equally dramatic flops. First was the denim bathing suit—which, when wet, weighed the wearer down to the point of imminent drowning. Next was a line of disposable (throw-away) sheets and towels. These, Levi discovered, were not high on the consumer's list of priorities. Unable to interest hotels in the product, the company was saved when the factory that made the sheets burned down. Levi absorbed the $250,000 loss.

Eventually Levi created six new divisions, ranging from jeans to accessories and including women's sportswear, Levi's for Girls. The diversification¹ worked. In the mid-1970s Levi's sales hit the billion-dollar mark, having taken 125 years to reach that milestone. Four years later sales hit $2-billion. In 1979 the company ranked 167 on Fortune's ²list of the 500 largest industrial corporations, and 20 in net profits.³ Between 1970 and 1980 Levi had grown an average of 23 percent a year. In 1979 alone it sold 143 million garments.

In menswear, though, all Levi products had been aimed at the middle of the market. The company had brought out a line of moderately dressy slacks and polyester leisure suits—the Action Slack and Action Suit—and was doing a brisk business with them. But the tempting upper end of the market remained untouched.

“If we want to grow we're probably going to have to go to upper moderate price points,” one Levi official explained, “and somewhat higher taste levels for our products.” In short, they needed to sell more expensive clothes like the Tailored Classic. If Levi could sell sport coats, dress slacks, and suits, a whole new market would open up. The Tailored Classic might make money all by itself. But even more important, it would get Levi into the business of producing fancier and costlier clothing. The consumer would come to think of it as a manufacturer of dress and it could spin off⁴ many more such lines in the future.

Notes:

1. production of very different kinds of products;

2. an important U.S. business magazine;

3. profits after the company pays income taxes;

4. create (other related products).

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