White + Warren
It all started in 1997 when Susan White Morrissey started working with a facility owner that sources cashmere directly from Mongolian herders. Setting up shop in New York’s Fashion District, Morrissey recruited designers who believed in the idea that cashmere could be an attainable luxury for women like herself. Now 25 years later, White + Warren has grown into a close-knit team of 90% women with Susan as CEO and her daughter, Catherine Morrissey, as President.
White + Warren is a mindfully-made brand
White + Warren acknowledges that the process of sustainability is never-ending, and there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. There is still so much work to be done, and the first step is making the commitment.
As a company, they've chosen three areas of impact
1. Responsibly Sourced Materials
As of Spring ‘20, nearly all of White + Warren's cotton is BCI-certified, meaning it has passed the certifications of the Better Cotton Initiative, a non-profit that promotes improved farming standards in the cotton industry through water and agricultural sustainability, as well as fair wages for farmers. In 2020, they also introduced sweaters made from recycled bottle cotton, an innovative yarn made with Italian cotton and polyester upcycled from plastic bottles collected from the ocean floor—with their Spring collection they recycled 2,500 bottles. A W+W staple, linen is a naturally sustainable yarn sourced from the flax plant, which utilizes less water than other plants and doesn’t require the use of pesticides to grow. Even better, the entire plant can be used in production, reducing waste.
2. Considered Processes
White + Warren looks at their processes from all angles, from product to production. By using a natural wash to dye many of their linen styles, they saved 45,000 liters of water. And for BCI cotton, their partner mill recycles 60% of the water used for dyeing the yarn. Every single hangtag is now made of 100% recycled paper, and also recyclable. They've transitioned their beloved cotton dust bags that arrive with every order to raw, unbleached cotton in their efforts to reduce water usage.
3. Waste Reduction
Shipping and handling leave a huge carbon footprint, so the company has been auditing every step of the process to ensure standards of sustainability. White + Warren recently switched to compostable polybags, keeping 41,000 plastic bags out of landfills—and counting. They also eliminated unnecessary tissue from shipments, saving approximately 40,000 sheets of paper.