A Case Study On Levi's “Buy better, Wear longer”

“Buy better, wear longer” is an initiative taken by Levi’s in the summer of 2021. The objective behind this campaign is to create awareness among people about the impact of the waste generated from the apparel industry on the environment. The focus of the campaign is to manufacture high-quality clothes that will last for a longer duration. 

Consumers buy more clothes than they wear. Later, they pile on more clothes, and the older clothes stay at the bottom of the closet until they are thrown or given away. This ultimately negatively impacts the environment, as clothes can be tough to biodegrade, and new clothes consume much time and many resources to produce. 

The Need of Buy Better, Wear Longer Campaign

Study shows that approximately 6 billion pairs of jeans are manufactured every year by various fashion brands. Moreover, this process uses up millions of gallons of water and leaves out a significant amount of toxic chemicals and gasses in the environment. Emphasizing the importance of the campaign, Jennifer Sey, the Brand President of Levi’s, says that their denim is ultimately durable enough to be used for generations, and not just for some seasons. So they are also using their new campaign as a way to encourage their consumers to become more serious with their clothing choices, which means they need to wear every item they buy longer. Citing an example, Jennifer explained that by buying second-hand clothes or using the Tailor Shops in their stores, consumers could increase the life of their clothes.

Furthermore, reiterating the aim of Levi's buy better, wear longer campaign, Jennifer said that Levi’s has encouraged pioneers and has aspired to add inventive environmental solutions into the fashion market. She said that change would only come in the retail space if everyone worked together, and they are humbled to have partnered with the youth icons who will help them in their campaign. 

A recent study by Globe Scan shows that 77% of clothing consumers are interested in buying durable products, while 53% want their brands to provide options to reuse, repair, and recycle their clothes. Moreover, some studies show that people nowadays use their clothes as little as only seven times. 

What It Is All About

Levi's buy better, wear longer campaign targets the youth, as they are the top consumers and the ones who can take steps towards sustainability and the development of the environment in a bold manner. This campaign encourages people to wear their clothes for a longer duration and avoid discarding them without use. The movement encourages buying and wearing more second-hand clothes.

This campaign is an effort by Levi’s to promote sustainable practices in the fashion industry. It aims to encourage other cloth manufacturing units to switch to sustainable practices. Levi’s has recently saved 4 billion liters of water by opting for sustainable practices and has successfully recycled about 10 billion liters of water. “Buy better, Wear longer” raises the thought of sustainability for the future, among the people, bringing the companies and consumers together at the same pace to rethink the fashion industry. 

Voices for Change

The movement gained support from a lot of young celebrities, who eventually became its icons. Jaden Smith, Melati Wijsen, Emma Chamberlain, Xiuhtezcatl, Xiye Bastida, and Marcus Rashford, along with activists from around the world, came in support of Levi’s campaign. 

• Jaden Smith is a proponent of water conservation and was impressed with Levi’s initiative to cut down water in its production process, which has motivated him to spread awareness about the limited resources of our planet. 

• Marcus Rashford, a philanthropist and footballer, strongly supports youth coming from underprivileged communities.

• Melati Wijsen is a social entrepreneur who co-founded an NGO that focuses on conducting campaigns to ban plastic bags in Bali from 2019. He has recently shifted his focus towards empowering the youth.

• Xiye Bastida is a young activist interested in and has good knowledge about climate change. He has seen the adverse effect of the climate crisis very closely and wants to take the fight for climate change everywhere. 

• Emma Chamberlain, a fashion enthusiast who works to promote the idea of sustainable fashion, such as thrifting, using secondhand clothes, and renovating old clothes.

• Hip Hop artist Xiuhtezcatl produced music tracks for the campaign. His songs “What the Frack'' and "Speak for the Trees” portray a perfect amalgamation of music and a call for environmental justice. 

Extending their support towards Levi's buy better, wear longer campaign, these youth icons of the campaign made powerful statements. Jaden Smith believes that today’s world encourages people to buy products regularly, creating a vicious cycle. 

While the young activist from Mexico, Xiye Bastida, sees the climate crisis as one of the biggest threats that the world is facing right now, and this campaign is the best opportunity to move ahead.

Ways to Make this Campaign a Success

Paul Dillinger, VP Product Innovation highlighting the probable outcome of Levi's buy better, wear longer campaign, said that they have been working to produce such clothes at Levi’s that are durable both physically and emotionally. And Levi’s aims to achieve this by following certain practices, such as -  

A Shift Towards Circular System

Levi’s has been putting in considerable efforts to devise strategies for fighting overconsumption. The circulatory system is based on a theory proposed by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, which states that companies need to find an alternate source of revenues for their business. 

A circular system can be achieved through repair, resell, and recycling instead of making new products. This is what the foundation’s fashion lead calls the process of rethinking the clothing business model. Levi’s has already set an example by establishing Tailor Shops in 2015, which are nothing but a station where customers can get their clothes customized. Building on this, Levi’s has also launched a new resale website known as Levi’s Second Hand, where customers get to exchange or buy old jeans. 

Moreover, the company has also taken serious measures to reduce environmental footprint, such as using less water-intensive raw materials. 

Adapting with the Trend

One of the major hurdles with recycled clothes is that the consumer might not feel like wearing them after a certain period because it is no longer trendy. And thus, they eventually dump it, contributing to the waste it was eventually meant to reduce. To tackle this, Levi’s has offered its customers the option to choose new washes and silhouettes whenever they visit for repairs at the store. 

However, Levi's buy better, wear longer may still not be enough to tackle the changing trends. Therefore, the brand is looking for ways in which it can manufacture clothes that can stand the test of time and says that they want to offer fewer, better options. If you are also a fashion retailer and want to promote sustainable clothing, you can source clothes with the help of Fashinza. Fashinza is a B2B apparel manufacturing platform that helps clothing brands to manufacture their collections by connecting them with suppliers.