THE CORPORATE HISTORIAN

Historian Tracey Panek, director of archives at Levi Strauss & Co, reveals what it takes to preserve a brand’s history – and why it needs to be done in the first place.

What is the role of a corporate historian?

A corporate historian researches about the company’s history, documents and archives it. We also have to answer historical questions and assist employees to understand the brand’s evolution.

How did you get interested in history, particularly corporate history?

From my childhood, I loved listening to stories. We are four siblings and at the dinner table there would be many stories. My parents migrated from New Zealand to the US and we especially enjoyed listening about their childhood and growing up years. That love for uncovering the past became a life-long passion. I graduated in history in 1995 from the University of California, Berkeley and I did my masters in history from California State University. I also did an internship at California State Archives where I got an insight into studying business history. My first job was in a communications company before doing a stint in the automobile sector.

Tell us how you started with Levi Strauss?

I knew the former historian of Levi’s, Lynn Downey, who was moving on to another project. I grabbed the opportunity and applied for the post. I joined the company in June 2014. Your work profile at Levi’s involves… Overseeing acquisitions and preservation of historical Levi’s garments, photographs, documents, posters and many other materials that we carefully preserve in our company archives. I work closely with the Levi’s design team to help use our rich heritage as inspiration for future designs. I also read, research and visit museums and exhibitions to search interesting and iconic items to be included in our archives. A lot of my experiences related to my work are shared on our official blog Unzipped.

Give us a peek into the preservation process The preservation of a garment is a meticulous process that varies depending on the condition of the garment. I work with a conservator. We clean the fabric first with just plain water and stored it in muslin cloth. We always use white gloves while handling them. The entire restoration and archiving process is photographed and curated digitally.

Why is it important to archive a brand?

The authenticity of a product is very important

'I read, research and visit museums and exhibitions to search interesting and iconic items to be included in our archives’

and that can be established when we refer to a brand’s history and understand how their products evolved over the years. At Levi’s, for instance, we can establish the year of manufacture of a jeans through typical buttons used in an era, the number of pockets or labels. Each small detail is archived and that eventually helps future generations. One of the oldest Spur Bites called the Cowboy jeans that we displayed at the launch of the Dubai mall store re-opening dates back to 1890. We can arrive at that manufacturing date looking at the single back pocket and the writing on the label inside the front pocket.

From telecommunications to automobiles and now garments how did your job change as a