White + Warren, the New York-based brand known for luxurious cashmere sweaters, is marking its 25th anniversary with a slew of initiatives, two limited-edition capsules, as well as a host of in-person events throughout the fall.
One of the capsules is inspired by some of their best-selling styles over the years, with a campaign shot by Alexi Lubomirski on the streets of New York with model Karen Elson. White + Warren will also be releasing a special collaboration capsule with fashion illustrator Jacky Blue, known for her innovative and playful use of color and graphics.
The company hosted a special pop-up at Fivestory in New York last month, and will hold a second one this month to introduce its holiday collection. It will also host 25 trunk shows around the country in cities such as Boston; Philadelphia; Sea Island, Georgia; Kansas City, Missouri, and Santa Barbara, California.
White + Warren started out 25 years ago with five basics in seven colors. The brand has since expanded substantially and is known for pattern, color and texture in easy-to-wear silhouettes. “Then we were known for cool basics,” said Susan White Morrissey, founder and chief executive officer, in an interview with her daughter, Catherine Morrissey, president.
“I have watched our brand adapt and grow for 25 years. I was 12 when my mother launched White + Warren. I have been fortunate enough to observe her leading the business through difficult economic periods and numerous evolutions and what has always stayed with me is the importance of agility and the ability to quickly pivot when needed,” said Catherine Morrissey.
“When I joined the company in 2011, it was time to introduce the brand to the next generation, incorporating more trends and opening price points within our collections as well as to elevate our marketing while also growing the e-commerce business. I am proud to have led this phase of growth over the past 11 years, culminating in 2021 being our best year-to-date,” she added.
At present, their number-one-selling item is the travel wrap, which has been done in 1,000 colors to date, and the crewneck and turtleneck are also top sellers. They completely sold out in three weeks their anniversary collection, which went up online Sept. 10. The two top sellers were the luxe cable crewneck for $795 and a shrunken, chunky crewneck cardigan for $595.
Susan White Morrissey attributed a lot of their growth to investing in and diversifying their marketing strategy. “We’re telling her about it. Customer acquisition is first and foremost,” she said. In addition to direct mail and e-mail, White + Warren has introduced SMS and affiliate marketing and social ads, which have increased and broadened their points of contact with new and existing customers. The company has further invested in content to help contextualize the collection, showing the models skiing, or at the beach or in the office.
But there’s no question the key to their success over the past 25 years comes down to the quality and design, they said. The company’s design director is Ruth Lanne, who joined the company in 2019, and previously worked for Donna Karan, Alexander Wang, Tse Cashmere and Club Monaco. “It’s one of the reasons the collections have moved so quickly so fast,” said Susan White Morrissey.
Overall, White + Warren’s fall sweaters retail from $295 to $795, and the core is between $295 and $495, said Catherine Morrissey. Everything is made in China. For holiday, they are launching alpaca sweaters that are produced in Peru.
White + Warren has built a significant business by steering away from big department stores and cultivating women’s specialty stores. Today they sell to 500 specialty stores in the U.S., 50 in Canada, and 30 in Europe, as well as online retailers such as Shopbop, Revolve and Saks. Key specialty store accounts are Monkees (13 units); Blackberry Farm, Walland, Tennessee; Valentina in Winnetka, Illinois; Wendy Foster in Santa Barbara, California; Two Skirts in Telluride, Colorado; Halls in Kansas City, Missouri; Joan Shepp in Philadelphia; Abersons in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and AK Rikk’s in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
“Our wholesale partners give us a chance whenever we present something new and that’s why our wholesale is so strong now,” said Susan White Morrissey.
At the same time wholesale is growing, the e-commerce business has taken off.
“At present, 50 percent of the business is e-commerce and 50 percent is wholesale,” she added. “Prior to the pandemic, 35 percent was e-commerce said Catherine Morrissey. E-commerce has been increasing 20 percent year-over-year in gross sales.
What they did was adjust their product assortment for e-commerce to be ‘buy now, wear now,’ offering the customer more of what she wants at the right time. They shifted away from the wholesale model flow of product which is to bring in the collection very early in the season and let it sell on the floor.
After experiencing their best year in 2021, Susan White Morrissey said this year business will be ahead by 17 percent. She said the wholesale business came back fast. “The average order is up 10 percent. They’re emotional, these stores. It’s a relationship that’s been going for a very long time, and they react emotionally. When they see something they love, they buy it,” she said.
For their collaboration with fashion illustrator Jacky Blue, they designed intarsia knit cashmere styles with abstract shapes and flowers. “Every single customer is ordering it,” said Susan White Morrissey. Catherine Morrissey said they’ll be doing more collaborations next June and in the fourth quarter of 2023.
“One of the areas we see a serious opportunity is cotton,” said Catherine Morrissey. They are working on it for 2023 and 2024. There will be a core component to it and elevated novelties. They also do wool and cashmere, as well as wool and cotton combinations.
“So many customers are asking us to make it [cotton] happen,” said Susan White Morrissey. ” They can’t wear cashmere year-round, but they want to be able to wear our product. We see it as a big opportunity,” said Catherine Morrissey.
The company employs 30 people in New York, who all work remotely, and 10 independent reps and distributors. During the pandemic they downsized their New York office space at 80 West 40th Street, and found that working from home was a viable solution.
At present their largest territory for wholesale is the Southeast, and as far as e-commerce, the East and West coasts have the most customers. “We don’t sell the big guys in New York City, so if they want the brand, they have to buy it online,” said Susan White Morrissey.
They made a conscious choice not to have their own freestanding stores. “There’s still so much opportunity with online,” Susan White Morrissey said. She said retail prices had to increase a bit for fall, but it’s not impacting business.
Discussing White + Warren’s pop-up at Fivestory in September, and its second one Oct. 21 – Oct. 22, (with a V.I.P. event Oct. 20) with the holiday collection, Susan White Morrissey said, “We did really well with fall.” They sold textured v-necks, puffed-sleeve tops and off-the-shoulder tops. She said the White + Warren installation grid of travel wraps in the windows drew people in. The windows were up for two weeks. The Jacky Blue collection will launch at Fivestory. They will have an embroidery artist available and as a gift with purchase, she’ll embroider anything one wants on the travel wrap or other pieces.
Karen Murray, owner of Fivestory, said she has been wearing White + Warren sweaters for years. “They have a diversified offering of styles — crews, cardigans, skirts and pants as well as the most beautiful array of colors, and the the quality and price are a true value.
“My customers love their basic shrunken crews and cardigans, but this season have also gravitated toward their incredibly soft chunky styles as well. It’s a great addition to our offering at Fivestory that works well with the tailored pieces throughout the store. Our customers will buy two or three with jeans and mix them with Etro, Victoria Beckham or Rosetta Getty pants. Their travel wraps are a staple item, a great completer piece and comes in dozens of colors and works with everything in the store. Susan, Catherine and the team have stepped up the quality and styling of the line over the years, and we love working with them and helping them celebrate their 25th,” said Murray.
On Nov. 7, White + Warren will launch a hearts collection with the American Heart Association. The sweaters retail between $350 and $425. They are also adding bling to their sweaters for the first time, such as rhinestones and pearls.
