Levi Strauss & Co CEO Chip Bergh said consumers were getting away from the hipster-inspired look of at least the past decade.
“Cycles do come and go,” he told CNBC. I think the pandemic definitely played a contributing role to consumers looking for a more comfortable, more relaxing denim.’’
According to Bergh, his denim maker’s sales started last year are boosted by one new jean design that ballooned out at the bottom, and a second style that was loose-fitting with a high-rise at the waist.
“The last real denim cycle was driven by skinny jeans. That cycle lasted about 10 years,’’ Bergh said to CNBC.
Bergh isn’t ready to bury the skinny jean look altogether, but he says there was now a very strong demand for looser fitting denim, from both male and female consumers.
CNBC reports Levi’s sales were down overall in the first quarter of 2021 but believed the ongoing pandemic’s impact was depressing retail numbers.
However, the company’s stock was up 25 per cent on the year and the iconic brand expects sales to be back to 2019 standards in the final quarter of 2021. (tca/dpa/NAN)
