It’s been 40 years since White Stuff was born on the slopes of the French Alps. Our founders, George and Sean, had the idea of selling T-shirts to fund their ski bum lifestyle, and headed to Val-d'Isère in a Citroen 2CV loaded with self-designed “Boys from the White Stuff” tops. (The “white stuff” is snow, in case you were wondering.)
Six years later, they opened a shop in Battersea, South London (the first of more than 150 shops and concessions in the UK) and in 1993 debuted their (in)famous mail order catalogue. In addition to the original graphic tees, the White Stuff range now included sweatshirts, fleeces, ski pants and cow print rave hats. And in 1996 the first dedicated White Stuff womenswear collection arrived.
Our style has evolved but the ethos behind it is still the same
And that means we’ve had 40 years of doing things differently. Of making distinctive clothes, designed in house, with an obsession for quality. Clothes that are for everyone. But don’t look like everyone else’s.
We love natural materials like cotton, wool and linen. We keep an eye on trends but we don't just follow fashion. Because we want our stuff to be worn season after season. And we think it's good to stand out from the crowd.
We’ve made commitments
We’re about trying to do the right thing by the planet and its people. We’ve always tried to use more sustainable materials whenever we could, but we’ve still got lots more to do.
70% of our products last year contained material from certified sources. This included 100% of our cotton fabrics (made from certified organic, Fairtrade or recycled cotton) and 90% of our viscose fabrics.
And by the end of this year, we’re aiming for all of our manmade cellulosic fibre (viscose, modal and lyocell fabrics) to be from certified sources and a quarter of our synthetic materials to come from recycled sources.
We’ve partnered with Fairtrade since 2018, becoming the UK’s biggest fashion retailer of Fairtrade Sourced Cotton. A commitment that’s part of our DNA.
We donate 1% of our profits every year, and fundraise in various different ways. We’ve donated £4.6 million to charity since 2010. And we now support our main charity partner, Create, which uses the creative arts to connect, inspire and upskill society’s most vulnerable people.
And it’s been 40 years of trying to stand up for what we believe in (things like creativity, independence and self-expression) and to support others to stand up too. Championing the independent spirits. The ones who run their own race. Who put themselves out there, and don't mind too much if their thing isn't your thing (because it'd be boring if we all had the same thing).
We travel the country meeting interesting people. And photographing folk with great personal style. And we try to use models you won't have seen everywhere else. Including some of our own customers.
We’ve opened a lot of shops over the years
We’ve got over 150 shops and concessions in the UK. And a few more in Germany and Belgium. We're opening new shops all the time. And we're always on the lookout for new wholesale partners who see the world in the same way as us.
Here’s to the next 40 years. Raise a glass (or a coffee cup). And follow us on our social channels to find out what we’re up to. Also sign up to our emails as we’d love to ping you inspiration, exclusive offers and nice things like that.