Levi Strauss exits Better Cotton Initiative board

On Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported that famed denim maker Levi Strauss & Co. would be stepping down from the board of the Better Cotton Initiative. The organization came under fire earlier this year after controversy surrounding issues of forced labor in Xinjiang.

Better Cotton Initiative is a very high-profile organization that includes world famous brands like Nike and Adidas. The organization’s difficult in figuring out how to respond to labor issues in Xinjiang has raised a lot of concerns from the global fashion community.

Better Cotton Initiative ended up becoming a target of China’s Communist Party campaigning against the group’s members. BCI ended up deleting a statement against Xinjiang on their website and several members followed suit in doing the same.

Levi’s was a major advocate against Xinjiang until their departure from the board. The company was not immediately available for comment.