The Tamesis
When Levi Strauss & Co. CEO Michelle Gass joined the company in January 2023, her strategy was clear: Boost profits by expanding its women’s apparel business, elevating the brand to attract more high-end consumers and creating cost efficiencies to achieve $10 billion in revenue by 2030.
Three years on, the world looks a little different than it does in 2023. As U.S. tariffs continue to impact and competition intensifies in the denim space, Gass’s job remains difficult. Of course, Levi’s is the most well-known and largest denim brand in the world. But when Gass arrived at the brand, the business had already endured several quarters of sluggish growth and weak demand. But improvement is slowly happening. For fiscal 2025, Levi Strauss & Co. reported net income of $6.3 billion, an increase of 4% from 2024. While Levi’s is the group’s largest brand, it also operates women’s activewear brand Beyond Yoga. In the latest financial report, Levi’s first-quarter revenue increased 8.9% year-on-year to $1.7 billion, while Beyond Yoga grew 23% to $43.3 million.
“Clearly, Levi’s and its strategy have strong momentum. Two years ago, I was talking about transforming into a best-in-class direct-to-consumer company [DTC] “Our goal is to be a retailer and more importantly a head-to-toe denim lifestyle brand,” Gass said. “There’s nothing more valuable than when you see strategy come to life, drive results and see our consumers really respond.”
I met Gass at Levi’s Haus of Strauss in Paris, a palatial 17th-century townhouse that opens in the summer of 2023 and hosts VIPs and clients willing to pay 595 euros for a pair of custom jeans. She came to the area to visit the refurbished Champs Elysées flagship store, which will be completed in April 2024 and features a mural by artist Quentin DMR, a neon blue color scheme and a tailor shop.
When she arrived, women made up less than a third of Levi’s customers, and Gass saw this as an opportunity. Building a complete Levi’s wardrobe, in addition to jeans, is key to her strategy of attracting female shoppers. “This is a company that’s known as a denim bottoms company,” Gass said. “Jeans are our heritage and our foundation, but the denim lifestyle is our future. We’ve seen that over the past few years.” She noted that Levi’s saw double-digit growth in its top business in fiscal 2025. “It’s tops, outerwear, sweaters, dresses, non-denim. So our opportunity is much greater than it was ten years ago, or even five years ago, and we’re proving that it’s working – consumers are allowing us to go there.”
Over time, the women’s denim category has been heating up, with luxury and mass-market brands from Agolde to Good American entering the space. “Competition is healthy because it creates more energy in the denim category,” Gass said. “But if you walk into our stores and on our website, you’ll see a wider range of products than a few years ago. People ask, ‘What’s the latest trend?’ Loose jeans are still important, but we’re also seeing skinny jeans. I think it’s creating versatility in women’s wardrobes.” Gass said women currently make up 40 percent of the industry, and her goal is to get to 50 percent in the future.
Winning in turbulent times
The wholesale industry has been considerably challenged post-pandemic as the closure of core retailers such as Saks and Ssense puts pressure on brands. So far, Levi’s is weathering the storm: Wholesale revenue grew 4% in fiscal 2025 as the brand focuses on key retail partners.
“I have unique experience on this side of the table because I worked for a wholesaler before taking on this role. I understand the nuances. We want to win with winners in the wholesale space,” said Gass, who served as chief executive of U.S. retailer Kohl’s from 2018 to 2022. One such winner, she noted, is Zalando, which has invested heavily in e-commerce experiences and fitness technology and has become a Levi’s company. “important partner”.
