Levi's Case Study

Brand Report: Levi's Strauss & Co.

Company Analysis

In 1853, a Bavarian immigrant named Levi Strauss opened a dry-goods business in San Francisco, California. Roughly twenty years later, the problem miners had with finding sturdy pants was brought to Levi's attention. This is what ultimately led Strauss to ease out of selling dry-goods and focus on designing the first pair of denim high-wasted overalls, later known as jeans. In 1873, Levi Strauss used his money from his already successful dry-goods business to fund, and patent, tailor Jacob Davis's idea of placing metal rivets at the points of strain on the pants; thus, Levi's brand was born. Such a simple innovative technique grew to cultivate what is one of the worlds best-known products, and the number one maker of brand-name clothing. The company's innovative heritage, values, highly recognized Levi's brand, and creative ad campaigns are the main factors that have kept Levi's jeans alive, and Levi Strauss & Co. a respected company.

The private company has been passed down through generations of Levi Strauss's descendants. Walter and Peter Haas (fourth generation Strauss family) took the company reins after WWII and managed to make Levi's jeans merely functional apparel for workers, but 'the uniform of American youth'. The men added women's attire, expanded overseas, and finally took the company public in 1971. After profits started to decline in the mid-1980s, Robert Haas took over, and took the company private in 1985. One consistent feature of this company is where the company headquarters, or 'home', has been for the past one-hundred and fifty years: 1155 Battery Street in San Francisco, California. The company started there and has since then grown to be a worldwide corporation organized into multiple geographic divisions: Canada, Europe, Middle East,