Levi's

Founded in 1853 by Bavarian immigrant Levi Strauss, Levi Strauss & Co. is one of the world's largest brand-name apparel marketers with sales in more than 110 countries. There is no other company with a comparable global presence in the jeans and casual pants markets. Our market-leading apparel products are sold under the Levi's®, Dockers® and Levi Strauss Signature® brands.

Levi Strauss & Co. is privately held by descendants of the family of Levi Strauss. Shares of company stock are not publicly traded. Shares of Levi Strauss Japan K.K., our Japanese affiliate, are publicly traded in Japan.

We employ a staff of approximately 10,000 worldwide, including approximately 1,010 at our San Francisco, California Headquarters.

VALUES

Our values are fundamental to our success. They are the foundation of our company, define who we are and set us apart from the competition. They underlie our vision of the future, our business strategies and our decisions, actions and behaviors. We live by them. They endure.

Four core values are at the heart of Levi Strauss & Co.: Empathy, Originality, Integrity and Courage. These four values are linked. As we look at our history, we see a story of how our core values work together and are the source of our success.
Empathy—Walking in Other People's Shoes

Empathy begins with listening ... paying close attention to the world around us ... understanding, appreciating and meeting the needs of those we serve, including consumers, retail customers, shareholders and each other as employees.
Copper Rivet

Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis listened. Jacob was the tailor who in the early 1870s first fashioned heavy cotton cloth, thread and metal rivets into sturdy "waist overalls" for miners seeking durable work pants. Levi in turn met Jacob's needs for patenting and mass production of the product, enthusiastically embracing the idea and bringing it to life. The rest is history: The two created what would become the most popular clothing in the world — blue jeans.

Our history is filled with relevant examples of paying attention to the world around us. We listened. We innovated. We responded.

* Multi-lingual marketing As early as 1926 in the United States, the company advertised in Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese, reaching out to specific groups of often-neglected consumers.
* In the 1930s, consumers complained that the metal rivets on the back pockets of our jeans tended to scratch furniture, saddles and car seats. So we redesigned the way the pockets were sewn, placing the rivets underneath the fabric.
* In 1982, a group of company employees asked senior management for help in increasing awareness of a new and deadly disease affecting their lives. We quickly became a business leader in promoting AIDS awareness and education.

We are market driven, which means that we walk in our consumers' shoes. In the company's early years, that meant making durable clothes for workers in the American West. Now, it means anticipating the casual clothing needs of a broad range of consumers around the world. Understanding and appreciating needs — consumer insight — is central to our commercial success.

Being empathetic also means that we are inclusive. Levi Strauss' sturdy work pants are sold worldwide in more than 110 countries. Their popularity is based on their egalitarian appeal and originality. They transcend cultural boundaries. Levi's® jeans — the pants without pretense — are not just for any one part of society. Everyone wears them.

Inclusiveness underlies our consumer marketing beliefs and way of doing business. We bring our Levi's®, Dockers® and Signature by Levi Strauss & Co.™ brands to consumers of all ages and lifestyles around the world. We reflect the diverse world we serve through the range and relevancy of our products and the way we market them.

Likewise, our company workforce mirrors the marketplace in its diversity, helping us to understand and address differing consumer needs. We value ethnic, cultural and lifestyle diversity. And we depend and draw upon the varying backgrounds, knowledge, points of view and talents of each other.

As colleagues, we also are committed to helping one another achieve exceptional performance. We are sensitive to each other's goals and interests, and we strive to ensure our mutual success through outstanding leadership, career development and supportive workplace practices.

Empathy also means engagement and compassion. Giving back to the people we serve and the communities we operate in is a big part of who we are. Levi Strauss was both a merchant and a philanthropist - a civic-minded leader who believed deeply in community service. His way lives on. The company's long-standing traditions of philanthropy, community involvement and employee volunteerism continue today and contribute to our commercial success.