Clothing store Everlane understands how to expand. What started as a website offering a single type of sustainably-made t-shirt and a disinterest in brick-and-mortar retail has become a big, buzzy operation consisting of a robust online shop and three storefronts in New York and Los Angeles. But come Thursday, those three stores will become four with the opening of Everlane’s latest physical shop on Williamsburg’s North 6th Street.
This store will be Everlane’s largest storefront to date. It’s double the size of their first New York location on Soho’s Prince Street, and features multiple floors, including one dedicated solely to menswear. There will be 12 fitting rooms (another increase from their other store) that will operate in conjunction with a service called Save My Spot, where shoppers can join a digital queue, set aside the clothes they’d like to try on, and receive a text when it’s their turn to use a room. Many Yelp reviews of the Prince Street store praise the clothes but complain about overcrowding and dressing room wait times, so these expansions will likely be very welcome.
The type of fare Everlane offers is self-described as basic, but not in the way commonly associated with pumpkin spice. Instead, they strive to offer clothing, shoes, and accessories that aim to become wardrobe staples, utilizing simple styles and colors that won’t become passé like some hyper-trendy garb might. Everlane’s products have been in consistently high demand—even Meghan Markle donned one of their jumpsuits earlier this summer.
They also pride themselves on ethical and sustainable manufacturing as well as “radical transparency,” publicly breaking down both the cost of creating their items, where they’re made, and to what degree they’ve marked up the price, even offering a tiered pricing structure for certain items. However, they have received some criticism for using plus-size models in advertising while still offering a relatively limited sizing range (most styles max out at XL, size 16, or 35 waist).
To celebrate the opening, the store will be offering free snacks and drinks from a variety of local (and in some cases, international) vendors from September 12-15, including food from Patisserie Tomo and Caracas Arepa Bar, coffee from Olas Coffee, and even sustainable “carbon-negative cocktails” from Tin Roof Drink Community.
It doesn’t end there: from September 16-19, Everlane will continue spotlighting local businesses (and doling out complimentary goodies) in an evening series featuring purveyors of natural wine, desserts, and more. Think of it as an elevated version of that trendy boutique that offers you a mid-shop glass of champagne.
Recent Williamsburg openings—Everlane, the forthcoming new location of coworking space The Wing, and outposts of acclaimed food and drink spots like Sushi on Jones and Amor y Amargo, to name just a few—seem to assert that the neighborhood is still as in-demand as ever, despite the unending hiccups that continually plague the L train.
Seeing as many of these businesses coming to the neighborhood lean more in the high-end (or at least upper-middle-class—they’re no thrift stores or dive bars) direction and even Williamsburg’s affordable housing lotteries can require a $77k salary, it’s worth remembering that people who already live in the area (or can afford to take a car there) probably never had to worry about the train to begin with.
Everlane, located at 104 North 6th Street in Williamsburg, opens at 10am on Thursday, September 12.
Looks spectacular!