Ralph Lauren Corp. has rolled out an ambitious plan to implement sustainable practices and promote a more inclusive company culture over the next six years.
The half-century-old heritage brand released its Global Citizenship and Sustainability report this week, detailing plans to “accelerate the company’s work across citizenship and sustainability.”
Dubbed Design the Change, the program focuses on three key areas: design, environmental protection and enriching lives.
The plan’s newly-implemented goals include achieving 100 percent sustainability in materials, including cotton, by 2025, and design training for product development and merchant teams on circularity, along with cultural awareness and inclusivity, by next year.
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Ralph Lauren also plans to set “science-based” goals for greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, and develop targets for 100 percent renewable energy use by the end of this year. The company has signed onto the United Nations Global Compact, a multi-industry collective of companies working to support UN goals and implement universal sustainability standards.
“When Ralph founded our company more than 50 years ago, he did so with the conviction that whatever we create is meant to be worn, loved and passed on for generations,” said Patrice Louvet, CEO and president of Ralph Lauren Corp.
“This philosophy is deeply embedded in our culture, our brands and our purpose—to inspire the dream of a better life through authenticity and timeless style. It also inspires Design the Change, a strategy that will accelerate our efforts to create a positive impact in society and a more sustainable future.”
Outside of environmental impact, Ralph Lauren is also taking a hard look at gender parity issues both within leadership positions and factory management.
The brand promised to achieve equal representation for women in roles above the vice president level by 2023, and to hire or promote 25 percent more women to manage factory operations by 2025.
The implementation of Design the Change will be steered by the brand’s board of directors and senior leadership team, which now includes recently-appointed chief sustainability and supply chain officer, Halide Alagöz.
Over the past year, the company has laid the foundation for these new policies with efforts ranging from material innovation to corporate social responsibility. Since 2018, employees have volunteered more than 14,000 hours of time to non-profit organizations through the brand’s charitable giving program, the company said in a statement.
In April, Ralph Lauren debuted the Earth Polo, made with yarn derived entirely from post-consumer recycled plastic bottles, and dyed through a process that uses zero water. The revamp of the brand’s signature style marked its first step toward phasing out virgin polyester in favor of recycled materials. By 2025, the company said it will stop using virgin polyester entirely.
