Michelle Gass

When Michelle Gass took the reins at Levi Strauss after a one-year apprenticeship under her predecessor, Chip Bergh, she inherited a fundamentally solid company, but one not without significant opportunity to improve. On her watch, Levi Strauss has redoubled its efforts to offer a wider assortment of tops and items for women, and to move away from being primarily a brand centered on pants for men. She has also made progress in enhancing Levi’s stores and website, and making the brand less dependent on wholesale clients. What’s more, Levi Strauss has stuck to its DEI guns. The result is a clothier holding its own amid intense competition in a tough consumer environment, as a year-over-year sales increase of 9% last quarter shows.