Pierre-Arnaud Grenade of Ba&sh on strategic CSR challenges for premium fashion labels

FashionNetwork.com has met Ba&sh, one of the top names in France’s affordable luxury segment, a label engaged in a plethora of initiatives in favour of sustainability. In this new episode of the LuxurynsightXFashionNetwork podcast series, Pierre-Arnaud Grenade, the womenswear label’s global CEO, discusses with Olivier Guyot the strategic transformation engineered by Ba&sh to become one of the stand-out premium labels on the market. Ba&sh is committed to a CSR strategy, exemplified by its recent B-Corp. certification, celebrated in the summer campaign entitled ‘Walk on the Bright Side’.

Parisian label Ba&sh was founded in 2003 by Sharon Krief and Barbara Boccara with Dan Arrouas and the Vog Group. It obtained B-Corp. certification in mid-June with a remarkable rating of 98 points out of 200 – the fashion industry average score is approximately 80 points. Ba&sh is an international brand that champions corporate action to change environmental and social practices in order to have a positive impact on the planet.

“[B-Corp. certification] isn’t a destination for us, but a prompt to go further,” said Grenade, underlining the “background work” undertaken by Ba&sh in the last seven years. The label’s “lodestar” is Californian brand Patagonia, a true inspiration in the industry, whose virtuous practices have earned it a record score of 166 points.

“Holistic approach to CSR”

Grenade mentioned that, in terms of social engagement, “[Ba&sh] has always been extremely committed to all women’s welfare causes,” notably the fight against breast cancer and violence against women. “We set up Fund & Action, an umbrella foundation for all our charitable initiatives. And in 2017, we started a second phase in which we focused on key elements such as [sustainable] materials, [our] carbon footprint, circularity, traceability and transparency,” he added.

“We have always advocated a very holistic approach to CSR,” said Grenade, pointing out that the label has also tackled these topics with its suppliers, which are directly involved in Ba&sh’s global transformation. To reduce its carbon footprint, Ba&sh joined the Fret 21 scheme in summer 2023, and to minimise water consumption and soil pollution at all stages of its supply chain, it began to fund three regenerative agriculture farms, and utilises sustainable denim-washing methods.

Ba&sh is a champion of ‘smart fashion’, and has been actively engaged in the field of innovation and new technologies for several years. “We’re relying heavily on an ecosystem of start-ups, like Fairly Made for traceability, Tilli for garment repairing and Faume for the second-hand market, and others. They have a range of innovative solutions, enabling us to save time,” said Grenade. Aptly, Ba&sh has an innovation committee within its board.

Grenade also underlined Ba&sh’s ambitious international expansion plans. The label began to internationalise in 2015, starting with Europe, and currently operates 60 stores in Asia and 40 in North America, regions where it is planning to open new experiential stores. Asia and North America are key markets where Ba&sh is building its image as a global brand, dropping “capsule collections of ad hoc products” alongside its main collections. Thanks to the consumer data it collects and AI solutions, Ba&sh is able to “adapt its range” to suit local markets.