in conversation with the Dutch clothing brand Purewhite

Purewhite, a young Amsterdam-based fashion brand, was launched in 2008 by three entrepreneurs. The brand’s logo, a triangle, represents the men’s trinity and profound friendship. They seek to produce one-of-a-kind and timeless design for the modern-day guy. The brand began by selling white shirts for men and has now expanded into a fashion brand with a large assortment of jeans and accessories. Numéro had the pleasure to speak with the brand.

What has Purewhite done the past 12 years and how have you positioned the brand?

We started off with solely producing shirts and grew the brand into a full collection with a diverse range of clothing. From selling our items in one store we owned ourselves to having over 500 retailers throughout the Benelux. We have positioned ourselves as a brand that is accessible for the everyday man. With classic items such as T-shirts, knits, and jeans that every man should have in his closet to a younger collection with many hoodies and logo shirts. Although the brand started with outerwear, the focus has shifted to jeans more since 2015.

What is the vision of Purewhite? Did it change over the past years?

Our company is constantly evolving, it is important to respond to the developments we see around us. We don’t just want to talk the talk, but walk the talk. For instance, sustainablity is a big topic of conversation nowadays. Our denim collection consists out of 3 models now and will soon be expanded with a sustainable line as well.

The brand was founded because of the demand for white shirts, which was your focus product at the time. In the meantime, you have expanded the collection and the focus is on jeans. Why did you make the switch from shirts to jeans?

We wouldn’t necessarily call it a switch from shirts to jeans. We still produce and sell both. Every entrepreneur has the ambition to expand and go bigger and better, right? At least, we did have the dream to have a complete collection with upper and underwear. Our jeans became hugely successful, which is why jeans is now more our focus point.

Where do you get the inspiration from? And how would you describe the style of Purewhite?

We look a lot at what’s happening in the world around us but also follow the latest trends which we pick up traveling around the world. Then we find a good balance between the two and translate it to our Purewhite style. The Purewhite style is very masculine, cool and with an edge, but we also have styles for dressing up more. We basically want to offer the modern day men styles they can dress day to night with.

What makes Purewhite unique compared to other brands?

We offer good quality products for good prices whilst always bringing that Purewhite touch.

Besides the 500 points of sale, you also have your own stores which are located at outlet locations. Why did you choose to establish stores at these locations?

Yes we have 5 outlet stores, we chose to add outlet stores to our brand concept as it offers a way to efficiently manage the leftovers of our stock without having to dump it on the market, this is part of our way to become a more sustainable brand throughout all facets.

You listen a lot to what your customers want, how do you maintain contact with the customer?

We have created 5 persona’s that help us to identify the interest of our consumers; we look at what they like, what they like to watch, where they like to go to. We’re very data driven and, in this way, we can target them through for instance socials, ads and newsletters.

What is the next goal for Purewhite? And how are you going to achieve it?

It is our ambition to open our 1st Purewhite concept store. We would like to achieve this in 2023. We don’t have concrete details set in stone yet, but it is always good to have goals to work towards to.