While often seen as a conscious choice over fast fashion giants, the answer to whether Levi's is fast fashion isn’t straightforward. While the brand exhibits some fast fashion traits such as production scale and trend-influenced seasonal collections (like Zara or H&M), its primary business focus on durable, timeless pieces like the 501 jeans fundamentally sets it apart from a pure "fast fashion" business model.
Many experts label Levi's as a 'traditional-but-evolving' brand, adopting a few fast fashion principles rather than being a fast fashion leader. Levi’s has shown substantial and sincere commitments to improving sustainability programs and has made visible efforts to provide transparency in their sourcing. However, serious implementation and reporting gaps across its vast and expansive global supply chain make the issue more complex. Below are the details of our complete analysis and findings.
Levi Strauss & Co is considered far better than true "fast fashion" business models, thanks mainly to its decades-long history of building its company on longevity and durability rather than fast-replicating trends. However, this American clothing company has significant production scale (and its related environmental impact implications as a result), which are characteristics it shares more directly with many brands that primarily use fast fashion models.
Levi's has demonstrated a genuine commitment to implementing ethics across its supply chain and operations with its efforts to provide transparent information as well as third-party auditing. However, some reports persist, highlighting real gaps between their ethical goals and the actual reality.
Levi's publishes a public list of their manufacturing partners as part of its ethical production efforts, submitting to audits via organizations like SEDUX and Fair Factory Clearinghouse. However, a 200 Human Rights Watch report still highlighted concerns regarding low pay and unsafe working conditions across Bangladeshi factories. Some workers reported earnings between $88-$180 per month, which falls significantly below fair living standards of about $250 a month for that city and region.
Levi's became an officially certified B Corporation company after going public in 2019, requiring the brand to meet higher standards of social and environmental performance. The brand also committed to ensuring their full supplier list pays living wages no later than 2030. However, as of 2023, this effort to accomplish such a commitment has slowed, with only about 52% of factories meeting such living wage benchmarks so far.
Levi's primarily produces vegan clothing made with denim, and most clothing and accessories have minimal to no animal-derived materials. However, the company continues to use some real leather and some wool accessories. It does not provide enough detailed sourcing information on any animal-produced materials, and as such, the company does not hold any PETA certification.
Levi's has made impressive progress towards sustainability, especially in water management and material sourcing, but the brand’s overall environmental footprint remains large due to its volume and global sales.
The 'Wellthread' product line from this denim maker is created with more than 60% sustainable materials, including organic hemp and cotton. According to their 2022 sustainability report, around 28% of all production materials used are sustainably sourced, with goals of being 100% sustainable by the year 2030. They often source organic cotton certified by GOTS standards.
Levi’s 'WaterLess' production processes reduce water wastage by up to 29% for most jeans production, and they have claimed to have saved over 3 billion liters of water since its initial inception. They have pledged to reduce 40% greenhouse gas emissions by 2025 as part of their commitments.
The brand provides customers with in-store credit in some areas where it accepts used Levi's products, which are recirculated to thrift stores or recycled, and it encourages customers to repair clothes. They currently use about 7% of deadstock materials, which has room for improvement.
Levi's has been a certified B Corp company since its IPO, which means it commits to meeting rigorous environmental standards and has set science-based targets in accordance with the Paris Agreement.
The brand’s work towards ethical and sustainable practices is significant, and overall, their commitments are legitimate despite some gaps between their aims and their current actions.
Levi's gets a solid B grade for its strong commitment and third-party auditing. The company’s efforts for its living wage program are ongoing, though some concerns about its consistency still exist.
Levi's earns a B+ for its 'WaterLess' programs, plus their commitment to using sustainable materials and their science-based target goals. However, the brand's limited supply chain transparency and its slow progress towards its sustainable material goals show they have work to do to reach top sustainability brands.
If you love Levi's durable classic styling and its ethical commitments, you may find the following brands with similar values worth your consideration:
Nudie Jeans proudly offers free lifetime repair services and uses organic cotton for its jeans, with prices typically ranging from $180 to $300. They also provide full supply chain transparency so consumers can check all their factories and production processes too.
Outland Denim is a B Corp brand that employs Cambodian survivors rescued from trafficking as an effort to empower them with real economic empowerment and skilled education. Their jeans are typically around $200 and are made completely with organic cotton. Their supply chain has full transparency, and the brand focuses only on using natural materials.
Patagonia has long been one of the most trusted brands for sustainability. Their products are made with over 60% organic or recycled materials, and the brand has Fair Trade certification which ensures excellent worker pay and safe workplace conditions. Their products are priced with jeans typically about $75-$129 USD.
Mud Jeans has had great innovations with circularity models and their jeans can either be bought or leased. They are made with mostly organic or recycled cotton as well. Their factory production uses water-saving technology similar to Levi's. The brand has Fair Wear Foundation membership. The jeans at this brand are around $120.
Kuyichi is a fully sustainable denim brand and uses 100% vegan materials (organic cotton and recycled cotton fabrics). They have 80% of their production Fair Wear certified and have full supply chain tracing. The production of a pair of Kuyichi jeans is about 36% waste reduced. They range from around $119 to $150.
Levi jeans are often known for their durability. Their classic 501 can last for decades. Their repair programs also add value to that longevity. But their ethical and sustainability performance shows areas for improvement too.
WaterLess is a set of production processes in Levi's denim finishing that are claimed to reduce water use by up to 29%. The methods use fewer water rinses and stone mixes with the denim while in the wash machine and the cleaning cycle with ozone processing. It has saved millions of liters of water so far.
Yes, Levi shows substantial progress in ethical sourcing. The commitment to its third-party audits, their B Corporation certification, and their living wage commitments show clear intent to improve. However, their progress still has some inconsistencies, and reports say issues exist in paying fair living wage standards.
