Levi’s Project F.L.X. (future-led execution) is an innovative operating model that ushers denim finishing into the digital era. It digitizes denim finish design and enables a responsive and sustainable supply chain at an unparalleled scale. By replacing manual techniques and automating the jeans finishing process, Levi Strauss & Co. is able to eliminate thousands of chemical formulations from jeans finishing, which is highly beneficial from a resource use, waste generation and toxicity perspective. 

The project uses lasers from Spanish laser and eco technology specialists Jeanologia whose mission is to create an ethical, sustainable, and eco-efficient textile & apparel industry through disruptive technologies. 

For more than 30 years, the apparel industry has used hand-finishing to accentuate worn, faded design elements on denim. These manual techniques are time-consuming, labor-intensive, reliant on harmful chemicals and pose multiple health risks to factory workers. The distressed jean look is traditionally achieved through physical and chemical abrasion of the dyed denim, which produces different washed out looks.

Two commonly used hazardous dry processing techniques are sandblasting and potassium permanganate.  Sandblasting involves blowing high-speed air mixed with very fine particles of sand at the garment. Potassium permanganate is applied as a spray to bleach the fabric and create ‘whiskers’ that replicate use patterns. 

By using lasers in new ways, Levi Strauss & Co. are able to eliminate sandblasting from their manufacturing process. Customised features such as markings on vintage jeans are photographed and converted into digital files that can be etched onto a new pair of jeans in 90 seconds. In addition, wet garments are ‘washed’ in dry ozone machines to accomplish the bleaching effect without chemicals or water in just one step. Not only does this eliminate the use of potassium permanganate, but according to Levi Strauss & Co., thousands of other chemical formulations from its supply chain. 

Project F.L.X. delivers a cleaner jean that fully adheres to the Levi’s® standards of craftsmanship, quality and authenticity.

This is a major step forward in the company’s commitment to minimizing the environmental impacts of their manufacturing processes and eliminating the industrial releases of hazardous chemicals, as reflected in the Joint Roadmap Toward Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals. 

Levi Strauss & Co. state their plan is to reduce the total number of chemical formulations used in its finishing process from thousands to just a few dozen.