Former CEO of the Levi Strauss & Co. family business, Peter E. Haas, Sr., has passed away in San Francisco of natural causes at the age of 86.

Mr Haas, chairman of the executive committee of Levi Strauss & Co. and a great-grandnephew of Levi Strauss, worked closely with his brother Walter A. Haas, Jr. to help transform a pair of pants - Levi's jeans - into one of the most famous brands in history and in the process, build the family business into a major multinational corporation.

Among his most lasting legacies, Mr Haas played a critical role in the racial integration of apparel factories in the United States before the US Civil Rights movement. At the time, segregation was a common practice at factories throughout the South. He rejected segregation on principle and used the company's expansion of manufacturing plants as a means to create employment opportunities for blacks. In meetings with local community officials, he insisted that Levi Strauss would only open factories in their communities if blacks were granted equal status with white workers.

Haas' involvement in equal opportunity led to his appointment by San Francisco Mayor George Christopher to the city's Fair Employment Practices Commission, the first in the state of California.