Transparency in apparel: Everlane as a barometer for global positive impact
Authors
Published
International Journal of Ethical Leadership, vol.
6
Abstract
Ethical leadership in the apparel industry is often catalyzed by individual personalities, for example, Patagonia’s Yvon Chouinard, yet the wider impact of leader-value promotion permeates the ethos of firm culture, rallying employees to adopt attitudes and behaviors that promote a flourishing enterprise. Some firms recognize and embrace interdependencies that shape the complex relationship between individual ethical values, the firm, and the enterprise value chain. Such a multi-level pluralistic view of ethical leadership – where individual leader-values drive positive impact throughout the stakeholder ecosystem – is notably applicable to resource-intensive globalized industries. This paper sets upon illuminating best practices in the apparel industry through a brief case study of Everlane, a privately-held retailer forged from the values of co-founder Michael Preysman to provide exceptional quality apparel manufactured in factories sharing a common ethical vision, and promoted to consumers with radical transparency. Valued (in 2019) at over $250 million, the 8-year-old firm is helping to re-define how an industry can better (and more profitably) collaborate with stakeholders to embrace sustainable principles to flourish as agents for world benefit.
