Chris Callieri becomes Levi’s chief supply chain officer

Levi Strauss & Co. has appointed Chris Callieri its first chief supply chain officer, a title he held at Victoria’s Secret and Tory Burch. He offers two decades of strategic experience related to sourcing and logistics, and a record of advocating for more than “check-the-box” corporate sustainability.

Callieri reports directly to Levi’s President and CEO Michelle Gass. “Chris is an industry veteran with an exceptional track record of delivering results at scale who will help us strengthen supply chain agility, drive innovation and advance our sustainability goals,” Gass wrote on LinkedIn.

“I’m thrilled to join LS&Co. at such an exciting time for the iconic Levi’s brand, a true category leader that thrives at the center of culture,” Callieri said in a statement.

It’s possible that Callieri will assume some of the work previously handled by Chief Operating Officer Liz O’Neill, who retired in March. Responsibilities and titles shifted for at least six C-suite roles at the time, including chief product officer and chief commercial officer.

Gass, who has emphasized a direct-to-consumer focus for the blue jeans producer, also praised Callieri’s “focus on driving operational excellence” to make the “supply chain become more tech-savvy, more agile and better able to deliver best-in-class service to our fans and customers worldwide.”

Sourcing drives Levi’s emissions

The denim giant’s sourcing and logistics are central to its net zero aims for 2050. Ninety-nine percent of Levi’s total emissions derive from a supply chain that extends across 30 countries, largely in Asia.

The Science-Based Targets initiative validated the company’s decarbonization goals back in 2018, early for the sector. Levi’s 2024 climate transition plan, issued in October, offered a snapshot, rare in the apparel industry, of its near-term steps toward net zero. Beyond emissions, water and biodiversity strategies are focus areas in Levi’s supply chain.

Brand leadership

Callieri is closing out two years as chief supply chain officer for Victoria’s Secret in New York City, where he oversaw the sourcing of raw materials as well as product development, manufacturing and logistics.

“Transparency is good business — it builds trust, highlights the intentional decisions we make in our product development and demonstrates our suppliers’ commitments to sustainability,” he told Green Retail World in February, referring to the brand’s rollout of Digital Product Passports (DPPs). A QR code on bras allows consumers to open details on a smartphone about the product’s sourcing origins, such as family farms in Alabama.

Before that, Callieri spent four years in the same role at Tory Burch in New York, which included setting and executing sustainability strategy.

He joined the women’s high-end brand after two years as an Adidas senior vice president of product operations. “It’s certainly one of my favorite brands, and a company that takes sustainability very, very seriously,” he said on the Road to Champagne podcast in 2021. Part of the appeal, he said, was the company’s partnership with Parley for the Oceans to use waste plastic for sneaker textiles.

Callieri has spoken of listening to junior members of the team. “Some of us are very results-oriented and you tend to focus on the problem, you tend to focus on what needs to be done,” said Callieri, then at Tory Burch, on the podcast. “If you ignore that human dimension to really understand how everybody’s thinking about it, you will lose some of your effectiveness.”

Sustainability as ‘competitive advantage’

Callieri holds an MBA from Cornell University and a master’s of philosophy in environmental management from University of Cambridge. He was president of the biological society as an undergrad at the University of St. Andrews.

His consulting stints include a gig at sustainability-focused firm ERM in Chile, where he’s from. Later, after moving to Washington, D.C., he held an environmental and social due diligence role at the Inter-American Development Bank before becoming senior vice president at Accenture’s HRC North America. As principal with an apparel and retail focus, he had a chance to build A.T. Kearney’s sustainability practice.

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