Jeans, the uniform of style for the world's youth

Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Nearly 150 years have passed since Levi Strauss found a fabric that revolutionized not only the fashion industry, but also the style of youth.

Jeans, that is.

First produced in 1853 by the German immigrant in the United States, Levi's jeans have come to function as much more than just an outfit for miners.

A pair of jeans became a symbol of youth, individuality and freedom.

Levi's have been where the major changes or events involving young people happened around the world, a uniform of people rising up against tradition and authoritarianism in their 501's.

Inevitably, other changes have occurred. Levi's is no longer is the single player in the industry, and the company now faces many competitors.

Business has become so tight that the company recently closed some of its factories in the United States, including San Fransisco, where Strauss established LS&Co. all those years ago.

According to John Anderson, the president of Levi Strauss Asia Pacific division, the firm closed the factories to purely focus on marketing and management.

"We want to be a marketing company and focus on all areas in the market. We'll let other companies with better ability in manufacturing handle it. Unfortunately, we had to close some of our factories," he told The Jakarta Post, adding that the move had no impact whatsoever for the firm's interests in the Asia Pacific.

Other obstacles are shifting consumer attitudes around the world.

They are now more demanding and also less brand loyal.

"Just because they buy it today doesn't mean they will buy it tomorrow. Because there are more choices now, it's very competitive," Anderson said.

Especially, he added, because there is the Internet which allows the rapid spread of information.

"They (consumers) have access around the world. Because of that, consumers now want what has been sold in other countries. That's the challenge for us."

With all the changes, the only option for Levi's is to adapt to what's going on.

Like those aging rock stars who proudly wore their jeans at Woodstock, the only way to survive is to keep evolving and in touch with the latest trends.

"The key to success in this industry is bringing out new ideas all the time. Young consumers easily get bored. But if you bring out innovation, kids will find a way to buy it. You have to have continuous rhythm of innovation," Anderson said.

That means debuting new products for women every two months -- "otherwise women leave you" -- and every three to four months for men.

Other bids to revive its popularity include intensively exploring the potential market of Asia, especially this country with its huge population.

Levi's recently launched 48 new products here for both men and women.

"We're offering a wide range of products at a different range of price and fabrics, to reach wider (market of) consumers," said Levi Strauss & Co. country manager Ramon V. Martelino.

The products include those with the extra low hangin bottom for women, the Britney Spears' kind of stuff.

"Women are now more comfortable with their appearance. And I see that there's a strong trend of denim ... the sexy ones. So, we bring the consumers what they want. Because they wanna wear the latest, and Indonesian young girls really want to be fashionable," said Anderson.

Despite the strong growth of their products in this country in the past two years, Anderson said Indonesia was still a relatively new market.

"We've been number one across Asia. Here, we're number three for denim brand for girls, while for men, we're number two.

"So, we capitalized on the potential here. We bring resources to Indonesia. All of our jeans are produced locally. We also manufacture garments here to be exported all around the world."

Asked if the rankings were due to the relatively high price compared to other makes of jeans, Anderson said he did not believe the products were expensive..

"We don't want to compromise with the quality. We want to get the highest quality product with a great value. It's a combination of great product and good value price we bring. We're not the cheapest, but we do offer a variety of prices so we believe you can afford that," he said.