Interview with Rebecca Damm

The White Company’s product lines are characterised by timeless designs, the colour white, and a “no” to fast fashion. A partner of The Good Cashmere Standard (GCS) since April 2020, The White Company is ambitiously working on improving its sustainability performance. In this interview, Rebecca Damm, the ethics and sustainability manager at The White Company, explains what its most important values are, what the company has already achieved in terms of environmental protection, and how it intends to make its entire textile product range sustainable by 2030.

Ms Damm, The White Company has committed itself to organising its activities according to four ethical pillars. What do these pillars encompass?
We set these pillars to include all areas that need to be influenced for us to achieve our ethical and sustainability goals. The aim of our first pillar, “Preserving our Planet”, is to make the materials of our products more sustainable. Therefore, we are constantly working to lower the carbon emissions of our fabrics, timber, and fragrances. The second pillar, “Protecting our Makers”, represents the people involved in the production process. To implement our fourth pillar, “Longer Life”, we are switching all poly transit bags and bedding bags to recycled material; in addition, all our paper and cards are already FCS-certified. Furthermore, our designs are timeless and long lasting, so we expect our products to be passed on and be reused, reflecting our third pillar, “Better Products”. “Changing behaviours” is an overarching pillar because we are aware that achieving our targets require changes in the behaviour of both our staff and our customers.

You want to ensure that the entire textile product range is produced sustainably by 2030. How do you intend to achieve this ambitious goal?
We have been focussing on our main materials: cotton and cashmere. Therefore, we have committed ourselves to partnerships with GCS and CottonConnect. We are in the process of changing our remaining textiles over to fabrics that have a lower impact on the environment; for instance, 80 percent of our clothing selection is already being made from more sustainable fabrics.

What role does The Good Cashmere Standard play in achieving your sustainability goals?
Cashmere clothing and accessories are one of the business areas we invest in the most. We prioritise this section because our customers primarily come to us to buy cashmere products. That’s why we became a partner of GCS in early 2020 and have been using GCS-verified cashmere for our cashmere clothing and accessories since then.

In the global market, transparency in the supply chain is a key requirement. What measures does The White Company take to achieve its high product quality while maintaining high standards of social and environmental responsibility?
Having been a member of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) for over a decade, we ensure that our supply chain conforms to ETI’s base code. Furthermore, we perform a strict due diligence process when we commence a relationship with a new factory, and we conduct annual audit monitoring. As of this year, we are also a partner of a supply chain mapping portal. This allows for greater transparency. The greater the visibility, the greater the chance to identify risks and act on them.