Apparel brand Levi Strauss & Co., has announced that its current crop of ‘Collaboratory’ fellows will be granted investment to the sum of $380,000 as it looks to scale up sustainable solutions that combat climate change. Since May 2018, Levi’s has worked with 12 figures from across the textile industry to develop feasible solutions that address both environmental and social issues within the supply chain. Projects address areas including recycling, traceability and the use of data in manufacturing facilities.
More than a year on since the formation of a collective which comprises representatives from UpChoose; Make It Black; Reverse Resources; LimeLoop; The R Collective; Novabori; VEJA; Circular Systems; Chakr Innovation; Knowlabel; The Industrial Commons; and Huston Textile Company, Levi’s has piled in further funding to accelerate the development of new solutions.
The jeans brand initially noted that successful innovations from the Collaboratory – defined research not confined to a location – would be eligible to funding of up to $50,000, though it has now piled in a further $380k as it reads the scope for impact of such solutions and looks to inspire and create new products and ideas.
“The Collaboratory was designed to propel inventive and tangible solutions that address the most important social and environmental challenges facing the apparel industry today,” said Michael Kobori, vice president of Sustainability at Levi’s, at the time. “We’re energised by the collective talent of this diverse group of leaders – and excited to see how they push boundaries to address the climate impact of the apparel industry.”
The US firm notes that these efforts align well with its ongoing climate targets, which align with the ambitions of the Paris Climate Agreement, namely to reduce a global temperature rise of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
Just two months after on-boarding its Collaboratory 2.0 fellows, Levi’s announced its targets, approved by the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi). The company is striving to achieve a 90 per cent reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in its owned and operated facilities by the deadline, whilst offsetting 40 per cent of the GHGs from within its supply chain (Scope 3).
Commenting on the potential impact of developments in-the-making, Paul Dillinger, Levi’s Vice President of global product innovation, commented: “We all know how urgently our industry, and our planet, need real solutions to the challenges presented by climate change, so we are proud to support ideas and projects that can help get us closer to where we need to be.”
