At times it seems Chip Bergh is the president and CEO of the entire denim industry, but that’s the level of responsibility that comes with being at the helm of the world’s largest and most storied denim brand, Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&Co.).

In 2018, Bergh has spoken out about climate change, equality, worker education, the potential impact of President Trump’s trade war and more — all while leading the company on an upward trajectory it hasn’t seen in nearly 20 years.

From being the first Fortune 500 company to extend health benefits to same-sex domestic partners in the 1980s, to standing shoulder-to-shoulder with concerned employees in San Francisco to distribute information about HIV/AIDS before the disease even had a name, LS&Co. has a long track record of courageous leadership that Bergh says inspires him every day.

“I believe that CEOs today have a moral obligation and a social responsibility to speak out on the important issues of our time and be a positive force for change in the world, even if that means taking an unpopular stand,” he said. “I am convinced that doing the right thing and living our values — which often means choosing the tougher right over the easier wrong — is what has helped to keep LS&Co. at the center of culture for more than a century; and there’s no sign of slowing down.”

In fact, LS&Co. is speeding up its production time. In March, the company announced Project F.L.X., a new process that replaces manual finishing with lasers to reduce the time it takes to give jeans their worn-in look from 20 to 30 minutes to just 90 seconds.

Bergh considers Project F.L.X. to be a transformative way to design, make and sell jeans.

“It’s important to recognize that lasers have been around for a long time, but they lacked the granular capabilities required to finish jeans without supplementing it with hand finishing. We have developed proprietary technology that takes this blunt instrument and makes it surgical, allowing us to perfectly match our products to a hand-finished pair of jeans,” he said. “This technology is a game-changer for us because it also opens up an entirely new operating model for the company. And on top of that, it allows us to eliminate thousands of chemical formulations from the jeans finishing process, which is a huge sustainability win.”

That laser-sharp focus on design, innovation and sustainability is paying off. LS&Co. has grown double digits for three straight quarters; its direct to consumer business has grown double digits for 12 quarters in a row.

“It’s been a lot of hard work by everyone in this company to get this big ship turned,” Bergh said, “and I couldn’t be more excited about where we are today and our prospect for the future.”