Rebuilding the Levis Brand

Understanding the Levi’s Identity

Crucial to Levi’s forward momentum is the company understanding its customer and its identity, experts said -- more specifically, that Levi’s should continue to refocus its attention on women, further embrace its position as an authentic, established brand while continuing to innovate.

The jeans company relaunched its women’s denim collection in 2015, focusing on fit and adding stretch, both elements that experts said other denim brands were beating Levi’s at in terms of female-driven merchandise.

“If you lose women, the whole category tends to suffer,” A. T. Kearney’s Bahulkar said.

And Levi’s has room to grow here, according to Morning Consult Brand Intelligence: While 53 percent of men said they’re “absolutely certain” or “very likely” to buy from Levi’s, that number drops to 45 percent among women.

The company also launched its Authorized Vintage line in November 2017, a collection of 65,000 exclusive, decades-old denim pieces, available in New York and San Francisco locations.

Levi’s announced in February it was replacing manual finishing of its denim with lasers to achieve that vintage, worn-in look found in vintage Levi’s for those who can’t afford the real thing.

While leaning into such brand nostalgia is important, Bahulkar said heritage brands like Levi’s, and the larger industry overall, need to continuously innovate to stay relevant, or denim runs the risk of becoming just a replenishment item.

“What’s fascinating about jeans is that they have to reinvent the same thing over and over and over again,” said Bruun, and that’s no easy task, especially for a company that’s been around as long as Levi’s.

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