Have you ever wondered how your favourite shirt, branded dress or that snazzy pair of pants get to you?

For the uninitiated, here’s how it roughly goes for a simple shirt. Someone (probably with a fashion design degree) spends a significant amount of time designing how it looks and feels. Next, that someone or someone else selects the materials (Cotton? Rayon? Silk?), and then it’s off to the factories. Traditional retailers have middlemen to sort out all the messy bits – sourcing for the factories, materials and more – before it even gets to the stores and into your hands. So think about it – that designer shirt hanging in your closet now, probably costs at least 8 times than its actual cost!

Everlane does things differently. Their clothes go straight from the factory to you. No middlemen, no stores, no extra mark-up. This means extremely reasonable prices, for clothes of exceptional quality. Their popular made in USA Ryan tees go for an unbelievable US$15 each, silk items start from $55 and go up to $78, and Italian-made leather sandals start from $98. This fashion brand is all about “creating high-end, luxury staples” – beautiful basics without breaking the bank.

Everlane CEO Michael Preysman’s serendipitous fall into the fashion industry has been eagerly documented by business and fashion magazines alike. It’s no surprise that everyone is fascinated by this radically transparent business model. Started in 2011 in San Francisco, Preysman left his job in venture capital to start Everlane. He never expected to carve a foothold in fashion, but his passion for great design and desire to reinvent the retail space created what we now know as Everlane. Tapping onto personal contacts, Preysman amassed a network of designers, suppliers and factory owners that collaborate to create their small but exquisite line of fashion staples.

From the very beginning, Preysman and his company believed that brands have a duty to be honest throughout the entire process. That’s because things have changed. Consumers – you and me – want to know where their products come from, if they’re ethically made, and how they were made. We demand respect. Everlane understands this new consumer mindset completely, and embraces it. Each of its product pages detail the actual costs that goes into making it.

Take the Petra Portfolio for example. Materials, hardware, labour, duties and transport costs are laid bare for the customer. By placing their price next to a traditional retail price, consumers can see for themselves that Everlane clearly is the reasonable choice. Why pay more for something of similar quality? What’s more important is that Everlane answers the modern day consumer’s curiosity about the production process and wins loyalty and trust.

The company’s brand experience is carefully designed to make every customer feel in control. By providing transparency and creating a more conscious consumer, Everlane has laid the foundation for a very emotional connection to the brand.

When we purchase something from Everlane, we are not just buying something from a faceless company of people. We know that we are supporting people like Mr. Kim (the owner of the tee-shirt factory) and Pepe (the leather goods craftsman); we see the photos of the factory workers and craftspeople; we know how the history of each company involved in the process of making the product we now have in our shopping basket. The entire fashion retail process, once cold and kept under wraps, has been incredibly humanized. Welcome to the future of fashion.

Everlane Website: http://www.everlane.com