Modern Retail Vanguard: Carol Shu, The North Face

Carol Shu, who has worked at The North Face for nearly nine years and is now the company’s senior manager of global sustainability, has been instrumental in making its supply chain more sustainable.

What happened

This is part of the Modern Retail Vanguard, a series highlighting the behind-the-scenes talent powering the world’s top retail brands. More from the series →

Why it matters

The North Face has vowed to make 100% of its top apparel materials responsibly sourced, recycled, regenerative or renewable by 2025. But, it cannot accomplish this goal without tweaking nearly every aspect of its supply chain. Carol Shu, who has worked at The North Face for nearly nine years, has been instrumental to this process.

In 2017, Shu spearheaded the development of the Cali Wool beanie, The North Face’s first product made with regenerative materials. In 2018, she helped create a program that sourced post-consumer plastic bottles from the waste streams of three national parks. And in 2022, she guided The North Face’s first launch of circular design products – an area that Time Magazine cited when naming The North Face one of its 100 Most Influential Companies this summer.

Each day in Shu’s job looks a little bit different, she tells Modern Retail, depending on what stakeholders she’s meeting with. One day, she might meet with The North Face’s regenerative raw materials partners for updates on their work. Another day, she might advise merchandisers on best sustainability practices. “It’s a really awesome, collaborative role that I get to be in,” Shu says.

This news brief is based on reporting published by Modern Retail on 2023-08-16. The original report is linked below.