Beyond Fashion: How CHARLES & KEITH Empowers Women and the Planet

CHARLES & KEITH, in partnership with Plastic Bank, unlocks community-centered impact through eCommerce.

Industry: Fashion Retail
Location: Singapore
Website: https://www.charleskeith.com
Partner Since: 2022

A smiling woman stands outdoors in a wooded area, holding a clear plastic water bottle in her right hand and a white plastic bag slung over her left shoulder.

What collaborating with Plastic Bank did for
CHARLES & KEITH

Making every transaction meaningful

CHARLES & KEITH integrated Plastic Bank’s impact program into every online purchase, turning each transaction into a vehicle for social and environmental good. The brand commits a portion of its eCommerce profits to support plastic collection in vulnerable areas—particularly those communities with high participation from women—effectively weaving sustainability and female empowerment into the fabric of its business model.

Boosting Brand Authenticity

While the CSR program alone doesn’t sustain a brand positioning, having your impact aligned strategically with the brand purpose makes it stronger and more authentic. The impact program with Plastic Bank reinforces the brand commitment to women empowerment and resonates with customers who value transparency. Also, it boosted internal momentum. Employee participation in field visits to collection communities in Southeast Asia transformed team members into passionate advocates, strengthening the brand’s authenticity and internal culture.

Tangible and measurable impact

With Plastic Bank’s impact verification tools and digital traceability, CHARLES & KEITH can confidently report on plastic waste collected and communities supported. This level of accountability builds trust with consumers and stakeholders alike.

A group of approximately fifteen individuals, likely the Charles & Keith & Plastic Bank team, are gathered outdoors for a photo.

How we collaborate

CHARLES & KEITH’s partnership with Plastic Bank connects its global online customer base with a measurable environmental and social outcome. With every purchase, plastic is prevented from polluting the environment and redirected into local collection ecosystems—creating income opportunities for collection members.

By 2024, the brand integrated impact messaging into transactional emails and dedicated corporate content pages. Through biannual social media pushes timed with global observances like World Environment Day, CHARLES & KEITH brings visibility to the issue of plastic pollution and the people solving it.

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What purpose means to CHARLES & KEITH

CHARLES & KEITH believe that style and sustainability should go hand in hand. Through its four pillars of giving—women’s empowerment, sustainability, creativity and entrepreneurship, and education—the brand seeks to use its global reach to create local change.

By collaborating with Plastic Bank, CHARLES & KEITH extend its impact beyond Singapore, creating value for the planet and the people living in coastal and underserved communities. The traceability and measurable outcomes of the program give the team confidence that they’re driving real change.

“Out of all our impact programs, this is the only one directly tied to every single sale. That makes it uniquely powerful—for us and for our customers.”

Charles Wong
Brand Co-Founder, CHARLES & KEITH

CHARLES & KEITH´s formula for success

Sales-Linked Impact

Unlike traditional CSR campaigns that rely on isolated projects, CHARLES & KEITH’s Plastic Bank collaboration is tied directly to sales. The company commits a set budget per transaction to fund plastic recovery and community impact—enabling scalable, ongoing impact that grows alongside the business.

Impact Aligned to Brand Core Pillars

As a fashion brand with a predominantly female audience, CHARLES & KEITH aligned its impact strategy with one of its core pillars: women’s empowerment. Plastic Bank’s work in communities with high numbers of female collection members offered a natural synergy and helped elevate authentic storytelling. The measurable and traceable impact builds trust with their audience too.

Building Internal Advocacy

What began as a corporate initiative evolved into a source of pride and emotional connection for employees. Field visits to Plastic Bank communities brought the impact to life, turning skeptics into ambassadors and sparking genuine emotional responses that rippled through the organization.