After successful partnering with Outerknown last November, Levi Strauss is reteaming with the formerly denim-shy brand for Fall/Winter 2018.
Featuring a more expansive selection of T-shirts, button-downs, jeans and jackets, the new 12-piece lineup is part of Levi’s recurring Wellthread collection, which the jean giant says represents a “fundamental reinvention” of the design process by incorporating sustainability into every stage of development.
Each season, Levi’s Wellthread finds a new sustainability topic to explore. This time, it’s recycling, “specifically mechanical and chemical recycling—the two primary forms—which involve either reusing material or chemically reconstituting it,” the company wrote in a statement.
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By working with Outerknown, the men’s wear brand founded by champion surfer Kelly Slater in 2015, Levi’s was able to invest its pieces with “as much recycling as possible,” while ensuring enough durability and comfort for extended use.
The epitome of this approach? Head of global product innovation Paul Dillinger’s personal favorite: the Lined Trucker, a $185 quilted jacket that features a multi-colored interior lining made from mechanically recycled cotton and a denim exterior derived from Lenzing’s Tencel x Refibra, a reclaimed cellulose converted from post-industrial cotton waste. Levi’s also employed a new Water<less indigo system it claims saves 50 percent of the water used in the dye phase compared with conventional methods.
The jacket, which Levi’s says is sewn in a facility that invests in workers’ wellbeing, comprises fabric, thread, pocketing, labels and easily removable metal hardware designed for recyclability and, by extension, circularity.
“Each piece in the collection is made with not only waste reduction in mind, but also with the goal of being fully recyclable once they come to the end of their life cycle,” Levi’s noted. “It’s a collaboration that, for both Levi’s Wellthread and Outerknown, comes down to one simple phrase: When given a choice, do the right thing.”
