Maurizio Donadi
Based in Amsterdam, Levi’s XX is the relatively new premium clothing label of iconic denim brand Levi’s. Sportswear International talked to Maurizio Donadi, head of the Levi’s XX division, about how Levi’s Vintage Clothing is becoming more and more global and about Levi’s XX new sub-division Made & Crafted.
Please tell us the difference between LVC and Made & Crafted.
As a kind of nickname, LVC is workwear and Made & Crafted is church wear. Clean outfits that you wear on a Sunday to be with your family. If LVC is about the rigid and unwashed interpretation of workwear, Made & Crafted is about elegance and innovative casualwear which Levi’s has never done before. The trend was always to look at the history and reproduce and reproduce. Levi’s Made & Crafted has a new twist to it. It’s almost luxury in the arena of jeanswear.
Can you tell us more about LVC and the new Levi’s XX division?
Although LVC was born in 1999 it was never global. It was a much smaller selection of products and was distributed in different ways in Europe, Japan or the US. There was no consistency. There was a desire for that kind of product but it was never fully developed. So in 2009 Levi’s decided to open a new division called XX which is nothing more than a unit that takes care of and develops the top of the pyramid of Levis brands: LVC and Made & Crafted. They are now both developed globally. It’s one range for the entire world – one voice, one language, one religion. Our design team is made up of scientists not fashion designers. We look at fabrics and washes with a microscope. Half of this store represents the biggest selection of made in the U.S. products anywhere in the world. 90% of what we make is made in LA.
Read the full interview at sportswearnet.com.
