Meet Everlane: the clothing brand breaking new ground in the sustainability market. It bills itself as “consciously crafted” and uses advertisements like this one to sell not only their clothing, but the idea that their brand is sustainable and good for the planet, thus setting itself apart from other run-of-the-mill clothing companies. The advertisement is still-based, showing both a plastic water bottle, and a woman wearing a red puffer jacket, a red shirt, and black jeans.
The advertisement is two pictures spliced together evenly down the middle. There are two main subjects of the advertisement: the plastic bottle on the left, and the woman on the right. On the left side, the discarded plastic bottle lays flat against a green background, taking up roughly half of the free space. On the right side is a blue background and a woman. The woman has more than half of her body out of frame, taking up about two-thirds of the space on her respective side of the advertisement. She is posed quite fluidly, as if she is mid-stride, with her one arm above her head.
The advertisement conveys the message that Everlane’s clothing is made of recycled plastic bottles that would otherwise pollute the earth and raise its climate temperature. Although visually appealing, the advertisement lacks the convincing, emotional elements we are used to seeing in marketing practices through pictorial elements, relying more on the slogan “warming the planet, warming you” rather than the actual imagery. The imagery is effective, however, in giving us the context we need to understand what the clothing is made of; why we should feel enticed to buy it as opposed to similar clothing from other companies. The two images juxtapose each other so that a cognitive connection in the consumer is sparked; allowing us to draw a conclusion and create a narrative between them. The use of colours in the advertisement subconsciously persuades the audience of the functional excellence of the clothing being advertised. The chilly, cool-toned blue background on the woman’s side of the advertisement in contrast to the warm, red jacket and t-shirt. The viewer is subtly informed of the clothing’s warmth-providing qualities.
This advertisement is effective in sending the message to the target group. As effective a marketing strategy it can be, the fact remains that no one likes to be guilt-tripped. It can create a brand image that makes people uncomfortable. As per the information stated on their website, Everlane is centred on consumer-producer transparency; they do not need an overly emotional pull to their advertising, as the reasoning why consumers should support their brand as opposed to others is readily available and easily accessible.
Hariette Richards, a cultural studies scholar who focuses on ethical and sustainable fashion systems, critiques Everlane’s claim of radical transparency. Everlane prides themselves on being transparent with their price per garment breakdown. As commendable as this is, being so transparent about every aspect of your production line does make it far more noticeable when a piece of information is missing. In this case, there is no evidence that a fair wage is paid throughout their supply chain.1
Lisa A. Daily of George Mason University comments on Everlane’s efforts to create a good brand name and image for the company. Daily mentions Everlane’s Black Friday movement. Everlane donates all proceeds from their Black Friday sales to workers in their factories. Daily praises Everlane’s agenda: to use a day synonymous with over-consumption and unethical practice to instead give back. However, she critiques the lack of proof that the good deeds were actually done, resulting in a falter of ethics in favour of good branding and creating a good image for themselves. When you create a brand with the idea of transparency, you build trust with your consumers, leading to a “why would they lie?” mindset that can make it easier to get away with misdemeanours, whether intentional or not. Most consumers will not look further for proof that their money is being spent the way companies tell them it is. Perhaps because they fear what they will find. Daily comments on this shaky line between ethics and politics.2
Olivia Hanson also emphasizes the fragile line between ethics and politics in her paper: Unravelling Ethos: The Commodification of Ethical Clothing. She speaks on how despite claims to be sustainable and ethical, the production for most of the company’s less expensive clothing, e.g., T-shirts, tank tops, etc., come out of China and Thailand, countries with reputations for sweatshops and the exploitation of workers. As stated previously, there is no information provided on the wages being given to the employees at these factories: “the worth of the work appears to be determined by where the products come from, regardless of Everlane’s labor sourcing and rigid code of conduct for their factories” (Hanson, 2019, 15)3
According to Brianna Wren, “Everlane strengthened its commitment to SSCM in response to consumer backlash, promising to remove all newly made plastics from their products by 2021.”(Wren, 2022, 4)4
Bibliography + Endnotes
1. Richards, Hariette. “Rethinking Value: ‘Radical Transparency’ in Fashion.” – tandfonline.com, (November 1, 2021): 919-920
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/10304312.2021.1993575?needAccess=true
2. Daily, Lisa A. “Ethical Capitalism, Commodities, and the Consumerist Gaze – Proquest.” Proquest.com, (2017): 306-309 https://www.proquest.com/openview/20d4e5374db69e0af01e447495375247/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750.
3. Hanson, Olivia. “Unraveling Ethos: The Commodification of Ethical Clothing.” digitalcommons.colum.edu, (April 29, 2019): 14-17 https://digitalcommons.colum.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1062&context=cultural_studies.
4. Wren, Brianna. “Sustainable Supply Chain Management in the Fast Fashion Industry: A Comparative Study of Current Efforts and Best Practices to Address the Climate Crisis.” Cleaner Logistics and Supply Chain 4 (July 2022) 4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clscn.2022.100032.:
“Everlane – Sustainability.” Everlane. https://www.everlane.com/sustainability.
Isabella Tiani
Hello Sara! I believe that your analysis was very successful. You gave a lot of great points regarding Everlane and how they depict their eco-friendly practices. I believe that you plucked a lot of great information from looking at the advertisement and “pulling back the covers” that Everlane put on in a greenwashing nature. Your main points depicting how Everlane mentions that their clothing is made from recyclable plastics, instead of polluting the environment is a perfect ideology that encapsulates eco-friendly practices that have been on the uproar majorly. I also liked how you mentioned how “ no one likes to be guilt- tripped”, I know how it feels when certain companies push the “green ideologies down your throat”, yet with no proof in the pudding. I believe your use of your scholarly sources was super good in debunking Everlane and making sure to expose some things that the company may have wanted to cover up. Using four academic sources allowed for a deep dive in a critical analysis, which gives your readers a deep feeling surrounding greenwashing and how it connects to Everlane. I believe using negative critiques through your academic sources allows for the proper exposure of the brand and how they claim that they “showcase all their steps and how their practices function”, yet do not expose the wages of their workers, allowing for a feeling of hiding amongst their company’s dark secrets. I believe that your critical analysis is complete and you did not miss anything.