Jake Woolf

When the plant shut at the end of 2017, it wasn't an independent business that Levi's could just scoop up for a nominal fee. White Oak was owned by the International Textile Group. I think around 2016, ITG was acquired by Platinum Equity, a multi-billion-dollar private equity firm, for an undisclosed sum (industry estimates place the value of the wider group at around $99 million). If Levi's had wanted to buy the plant, the upfront acquisition cost would have been the absolute least of their problems. The real issue was the operating deficit. ITG stated that the facility had been losing money for years. To keep it open, Levi's would have had to subsidise millions of dollars in annual operating losses just to keep the lights on in an oversized, highly inefficient factory. A friggin' money pit. Also, while the "Golden Handshake" is famous, Levi’s only used White Oak denim for its premium Levi's Vintage Clothing (LVC) line and a few select higher-end pieces. The vast majority of Levi's global catalogue was already being woven overseas. Ironically, White Oak’s biggest customer toward the end was actually True Religion. When they went tits up and filed for bankruptcy in 2017, White Oak's order volume completely collapsed.

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