Levi Strauss & Co launches fellowship programme

Levi Strauss & Co (LS&Co) recently launched LS&Co Collaboratory, an annual fellowship programme for socially and environmentally conscious entrepreneurs who make designs for a sustainable apparel industry.

The fellowship programme will provide innovators and designers, who are working to advance sustainability in the apparel industry, the opportunity to work at the company’s Eureka Innovation Lab and tap into the company’s deep network of people and resources to bring their designs to life.

Each year, LS&Co Collaboratory will focus on a specific social or environmental issue facing the industry—whether that’s textile waste, water shortages or workers’ rights. The initial fellowship programme, to commence this year, will target entrepreneurs interested in developing new technologies and methodologies to reduce their water footprint.

“As an industry, we need to make sustainability a top priority and this means coming together to tackle the big social and environmental issues of our time,” said Chip Bergh, president and CEO of LS&Co.

The Collaboratory curriculum is developed in partnership with the Aspen Institute and the programme design is developed in partnership with Good Corps. The programme is open to leaders of for profit and non-profit organisations. The results for the 2016 fellows will be announced later this summer.