Iconic Australian bootmaker R.M. Williams receives B-Corp Status
This marks a huge leap in sustainability for one of Australia’s most beloved brands.
You can’t avoid the conversation around sustainability these days. Recycling materials, sustainably sourced natural goods, ethical labour standards. All of these practices and more fall under the wide banner of ‘sustainability’ in 2024. With the practice of greenwashing plaguing the industry, it’s understandable for anyone to be sceptical towards brands spruiking their credentials.
On your own, you can sift through a company’s practices to come to your own conclusions on its claims. Or, you can go by B Corp Certification. One of the industry’s most rigorous, independently-assessed standards requiring a long assessment period and meticulous assessment of a company’s social and environmental impacts. Brands must score over 80 in the Certification’s points system in order to get certified, with thousands of brands applying each year—the average score for businesses who undergo assessment is 50.9.
Today, Australia’s most beloved bootmaker, R.M.Williams, announces it has passed B Corp Certification with flying colours, solidifying the brand’s commitment to high standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency in the fashion industry.
It can be revealed that the brand scored particularly highly in the Workers and Customers categories of the certification, which is based on the label’s ability to offer fair, safe and healthy working environments for employees, as well as a considered level of care for its customers when and where they interact with the brand. R.M.Williams now joins close to 1,000 Australian and New Zealand businesses that have achieved certification since the program’s inception.
Speaking to this masthead exclusively, Angela Winkle, R.M.Williams chief sustainability and strategy officer said;
“As one of Australia’s last remaining at-scale apparel and footwear manufacturers, this B Corp certification is particularly poignant. It recognises the work we do across both the manufacturing and retail sides of our business and proves that local production—and a local product loop of repairs, refurbishment and recycling—can be beneficial for people, planet and communities. We’re excited to continue these long-standing business practices and to expand our ongoing sustainability focus, with the B Corp framework as a guiding set of principles.”
A B Corp stamp of approval does not indicate the work is over. In fact, it’s really only the beginning. R. M. Williams has released its inaugural Sustainability Playbook, which will keep customers updated on its progress and objectives for its ‘Crafting a better future’ strategy launched in 2022. The brand has indicated that it’s planning to shift towards some of its upcoming focuses that include continuing preferred fibres transition, working to remove all plastic materials from consumer packaging, and increased transparency at every step.
B Corp certification has raised the bar for one of Australia’s most iconic heritage brands, fitting of the lofty aspirations that it’s ready to fulfil.
