Cashmere brand White & Warren embarks on a rebrand as it targets younger shoppers and digital sales

White & Warren’s refresh comes as the brand looks to grow its e-commerce penetration and double its overall net revenue in the next three years. Currently, the brand is making eight figures in revenue annually, with double-digit year-over-year growth. While White & Warren started out as a wholesale brand, it has grown its e-commerce business and is on track to have a 60-40 split between e-commerce and wholesale by the end of 2025. White & Warren’s typical customer is 50 years old or older, but the brand hopes to target a younger demo by at least 10 years.

“This older millennial isn’t as aware of us, and she’s slightly more digitally native,” said Catherine Morrissey, president of White & Warren. Her mother, Susan White Morrissey, co-founded the brand and remains CEO. “We’re trying to share our narrative and find a way to level the brand up to DTC competitors that are out there. But we’re not trying to be somebody we’re not. We’re not trying to chase trends. It’s really about being authentic to who we are and broadening our reach.”

Carving out white space

White & Warren is revisiting its brand positioning as it competes in a crowded cashmere space. For decades, cashmere was a rare offering, available to customers willing to fork over hundreds or thousands of dollars for a scarf or a sweater from the likes of Loro Piana and Pringle of Scotland. But, in the last 15 years, lower-priced entrants have found a way in, largely by operating on a direct-to-consumer model and working directly with factories. Companies like Naadam and Quince, for instance, have built big businesses with money-minded millennials by selling cashmere items for under $100.

It is in this environment that White & Warren is looking to better position itself with a new generation of shoppers. But White & Warren isn’t trying to change what it’s known for or what it thinks it does best, the brand emphasized. The company traces 70% of its revenue back to repeat purchases, and 32% of customers return to buy from the brand in a 12-month period.

“Our strategy isn’t to drive the price down and be able to say, ‘We have the lowest-priced cashmere sweater on the market,'” shared Caitlin Tormey Mongiardini, the brand’s chief commercial officer. “We’re still very competitively-priced cashmere for the quality we’re offering. And I think this notion of perceived value pricing is really where we succeed.”

Trying to appeal to a new demographic is a lofty goal, but one that could help White & Warren better position itself in the fashion space, acknowledged Anjali Bal, associate professor of marketing at Babson College. “Ten years is a big drop in average customer age; it is a full generation,” she told Modern Retail. A rebrand, she said, gives a company an opportunity to “change their image.” Still, Bal acknowledged, “Brands need to be careful not to cut out their core market, while also appealing to younger consumers.”

White & Warren hopes to avoid that scenario, Mongiardini and Morrissey stressed. “A non-negotiable [for us] is to protect our retention customer,” said Mongiardini, who joined White & Warren a year ago to start planning the rebrand. “Refreshing our brand identity and still maintaining trust and loyalty from a highly-engaged base has been so top of mind for us.”

Cashmere as canon

Cashmere, a wool typically made from the hair of Mongolian or Tibetan goats, has been around for decades. More recently, it has benefitted from the boom of “quiet luxury” — a movement that emphasizes timeless, high-quality basics, without splashy logos or embellishments. At the same time, cashmere is becoming more ubiquitous and more affordable. Everlane began selling $100 cashmere sweaters in 2017, and Mott & Bow launched a similar offering the following year. Reformation, J. Crew and Aritzia all offer cashmere sweaters in a variety of colors.

Not all cashmere is created equal, especially when it comes to durability and quality. But shoppers are eager to make cashmere a part of their closets, especially as they go back into the office or try to save money by building a capsule wardrobe. In 2024, Poshmark told Modern Retail it saw a 284% spike in orders of 100% cashmere pieces from June 2023 to December 2023. As of Sept. 3, on Google, searches for “Quince cashmere sweater” were up 60% year to date.

Affordable cashmere brands have been able to maintain momentum, largely due to their price tags, said Sky Canaves, retail and e-commerce analyst at eMarketer. The challenge for White & Warren, as Canaves sees it, will be “to persuade consumers that its products are worth a much higher premium.” What’s on White & Warren’s side, Canaves said, is that it has a strong hero product in its travel wrap, and it sells via wholesale distribution to reach a wider audience.

Meanwhile, the luxury apparel category, as a whole, is dealing with challenges. The field “will be tested as tariff impacts begin to trickle down through the remainder of the year and into next year,” Canaves noted. Already, Coach and Ralph Lauren — which sell staples like cashmere cardigans and sweaters — are planning to raise prices.

White & Warren knows it has its hands full, as it rolls out its rebrand while juggling tariffs. The company manufactures overseas, primarily in China, and has felt “pressure” from increased duties, Morrissey explained. Still, she said, “We have navigated the impact very carefully, making sure that we’re protecting both our consumer and ourselves. … We are fortunate that we have long-term partners that we have worked with for many, many years.”

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