Responsible Sourcing
At R.M.Williams we believe that honesty and transparency are the most important drivers in ensuring progress is made for people and the planet. In this vein, we currently and continuously publish our Tier-1 suppliers on our website.
In partnership with QIMA, a quality control and supply chain auditing platform, we have regular onsite audits of our suppliers and vendors to give us a deeper understanding of how our partners are working toward our shared goals.
The R.M.Williams ‘Terms of Agreement’ and ‘Ethical Code of Conduct’ have been signed by all suppliers and vendors. Together this forms a document called 'Terms of Engagement'.
Suppliers must adhere to the R.M.Williams’ Ethical Code of Conduct as a precondition of working with us. This goes beyond legal compliance to cover animal welfare, energy efficiency, ethical raw material sourcing, chemical and water use, waste, reuse, and recycling.
Sourcing Sustainable Materials
We are committed to using materials in our footwear, apparel, and packaging that support environmental regeneration. We are continuously identifying and testing new and existing materials that have a positive impact on the world around us, to reduce CO2 emissions, divert waste from oceans and landfills, reduce chemical and water use, and employ circularity in design.
R.M.Williams has already implemented myriad initiatives that include the introduction of sustainable ecommerce packaging, such as switching our shoe boxes to FSC-certified board and the procurement of new, sustainable fabrics for use in our apparel lines. We are also testing low-emissions leather alternatives, such as MIRUM.
In 2022 we partnered with Australian-based Good Earth Cotton, the world’s first carbon positive cotton company. Through regenerative farming processes, Good Earth Cotton crops are actively absorbing more carbon from the atmosphere than they produce and creating products with a more circular lifecycle.
We are working to transition our apparel and packaging portfolio to ensure we use 100% preferred materials by 2025 and will soon publish our preferred materials and fibres matrix on our website. This showcase of innovative materials will form the basis of our sustainable design framework.
