- Natasha Avalos
Transparency: Everlane
Updated: Jan 12, 2023
A "Radically Transparent" fashion brand. Let's learn about it!
In this blog post, I will share information about the growing sustainable fashion brand Everlane.
Basics
Founded in 2011 by Michael Preysman in San Francisco, CA.
Originally set to be an e-commerce only website but in late 2017 opened their first store in New York and as of today has nine open stores across the country.
Products are produced in 20 factories across the world, all of which are listed with information about each factory on the Everlane website - part of their transparency guarantee.
Organic commitment - commit to switch to all organic cotton by 2023.
Measure greenhouse gas emission through supply chain, understand where impacts are highest, plan best paths to reduce using Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) with 3 goals aligned with Paris Agreement.
1. Lower carbon emissions per product by 55% by 2030.
Actions: increase use of recycled/renewable/low-impact materials ; identify/encourage/incentivize manufacturing suppliers to implement low-emission techniques (incl. renewable energy) ; reduce all around air shipment and encourage/incentivize ground shipments/returns.
2. Lower absolute emissions in stores/HQ by 46% by 2030.
Increase, find, and promote energy efficiency in stores and headquarters by purchasing renewable energy certificates (RECs) and consider power purchase agreements (PPAs).
3. Net-zero emissions by 2050 or sooner (Business Ambition for 1.5*C program).
After 2030, Reduce emissions through direct interventions, influence, and incentives and offset unavoidable emission through carbon removal/sequestration with help from partner company Native to restore and protect American grasslands.
"At Everlane, we are working to do our part by building an ethical supply chain that creates high-quality, low-impact, long-lasting products." - Everlane, Our Environmental Initiative
Virgin Plastics
In 2018, the company committed to eliminate all virgin plastics from their supply chain by 2021. In April of 2021, the company announced that they had eliminated 90% of all use of virgin plastics used in producing the clothing and shoes as well as their packaging. They admit that 10% of their chain still involves use of virgin plastic and on a page of their site, they point out where in the company they use it and why and how they are still working towards finding alternatives and easy to use recycled plastic in order to get rid of the last 10%.
After publishing their data in 2021, Everlane announced they are hosting a fellowship program where they are asking the public for help to find ways to eliminate this 10%. They offered five 20-thousand-dollar grants to prospective innovators and plan to release their findings in 2022.
Black Friday
Every year, Everlane hosts a “Black Friday Fund initiative” in which they donate their profits from sales from the week of Black Friday in November. In 2021, they committed to donating $15 from each online and in-store order (up to a $200,000 donation) to the Rodale Institute to help U.S. farmers transition their farmland to be regenerative organic.
Radical Transparency
Amongst their strides to reduce their environmental impact, Everlane is known for being “Radically transparent” with their prices. The company reveals the true costs behind all of their products and sells them for significantly less than traditional retail markups. On the “About” page of their website, they give a breakdown of five of their most popular products: The Modern Loader, The Cashmere Crew, The Elements Jacket, The Day Market Tote, and Denim. Here is the breakdown of their “Elements Jacket”.
