Levi’s teams up with Milliner Organic Cotton
Levi Strauss & Co. has announced it will be sourcing some of its organic cotton through the Milliner Organic project set up in the Balochistan province of Pakistan by denim mill Artistic Milliners. This programme, developed in conjunction with local authorities, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Pakistan and the Organic Cotton Accelerator (OCA), seeks to assist farmers switching to organic farming and support the communities that work on the farms. To date, some 1,600 farmers are involved; they receive non-genetically modified organic cotton seed and training to transition to organic farming.
LS&Co joined OCA in 2022 as part of a move to support organic agricultural practices for cotton farming. “It is through partnerships like this that we can not only support the longevity of cotton, but also make sure the way we do it best supports the communities where the cotton is being grown,” commented Jeffrey Hogue, LS&Co.’s chief sustainability officer.
“This project is special to us, as not only do we support farmers as they switch to organic cotton farming methods, but we also bring innovation to farming communities,” said Omer Ahmed, managing director, Artistic Milliners. “We connect all players of the supply chain to map our product’s journey from farm to fashion with blockchain-enabled traceability.”
Artistic Milliners runs a second direct-to-farm programme, the Milliner Cotton Initiative that supports farmers in the Punjab province with WWF Pakistan as the implementation partner as well.
Building closer cotton connections is featured in Inside Denim issue 9.
Image courtesy of Artistic Milliners
