Levi to Automate the Distressing of Jeans

choi

(1) Project FLZ Redefines the Future of How Jeans Are Designed, Made and Sold. Levi Strauss & Co, Feb 27, 2018 (blog; video clip, which the companion press release does not have).
www.levistrauss.com/unzipped-blo ... designed-made-sold/

"Today, we announced Project FLX (future-led execution), a new operating model that ushers denim finishing into the digital era. It digitizes denim finish design * * * By replacing manual techniques and automating the jeans finishing process

"For more than 30 years, the apparel industry has used hand-finishing to accentuate worn, faded design elements on denim. By using lasers in new ways, finishing time is cut dramatically – from two to three pairs per hour to 90 seconds per garment, followed by a final wash cycle.

"LS&Co. plans to reduce the total number of chemical formulations used in its finishing process from thousands to a few dozen.

(2) Suzanne Kapner, Lasers Create Holes to Give Levi's Jeans Their Worn Look. Wall Street Journal, Feb 28, 2018.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/lev ... ur-jeans-1519740001

Quote:

Levi Strauss & Co "plan to use lasers to create the holes, fraying and fading that gives trendy jeans their worn look, , a previously labor-intensive process that required garment workers to brush the fabric with sandpaper, rotary tools and chemicals. A laser can finish a pair of jeans in 90 seconds, compared with up to 20 minutes for hand-finishing.

"there will be no manual application * * * The lasers, which etch off layers of fiber, reduce the number of steps in denim manufacturing to three from as many as 20 * * * LS & Co expects that almost all of Levi's jeans will be made using the laser technology by 2020

"It [the company] also developed software that allows its designers to create the holes, whiskers and other detailing on a computer and send a digital prototype to factories with the push of a button.  With the automated system, the finishing is done after the denim is washed

"Even with the automation, Levi Strauss has no plans in the near term to move production back to the US on a wide scale.

My comment: The report is not locked behind paywall, Even so, there is no need to read the rest.