“We have to be OK with riding the wave." That is the mantra Michael Preysman, founder and CEO of Everlane, has come to rely on throughout Covid-19. In other words, Preysman has learned that, while the Everlane team can't control what challenges are thrown at the fashion brand -- which was founded with a focus on transparency and ethical sourcing in 2010 -- they can control the way that they respond. From the initial waves of the pandemic to the Black Lives Matter movement to now the Delta variant, getting through the past year can be described as “running a sprint, and it turns out it’s a marathon,” said Preysman, on the most recent episode of the Glossy Podcast. While the vaccine rollout evoked hope in many for the return of normalcy, Everlane has been honest about the fact that the resulting supply chain issues and labor shortages will take “another 3-5 years” to come back from, said Preysman. Until then, Preysman remains determined to maintain transparency regarding Everlane’s prices and direct-to-consumer business model, overall.  “[Our] $100 cashmere is coming to an end in 2022, because the cost of cashmere is increasing, said Preysman. However, the typical Everlane customer, who ranges in age from their late 20s to early 30s, is “willing to pay more” for the brand’s environmentally conscious and quality pieces, said Preysman.  Everlane has also adapted the customer experience to be “seamless” online and offline, ensuring that “fitting rooms are the star of the [physical] space,” and that returns and shipping are made easy for customers.  Looking at the bigger picture of sustainable fashion, Preysman remains outspoken that sustainability has “completely been greenwashed,” he said.  "We try to avoid that word [sustainable] and use more factual statements, [like] organic, or clean water, etc.,” and to actively focus on reducing the brand’s carbon footprint. Everlane has done so by committing to the use of recycled materials and more efficient means of transport. “What we're trying to show is that you can both … live a great life and have a low environmental impact,” said Preysman.

With 25 years of experience at luxury brands like Burberry and Céline, Ulrik Garde Due’s reputation for revitalizing companies led him to his current position as president and CEO of Mark Cross, America’s oldest luxury accessories brand.  “I saw a real opportunity in creating a lifestyle positioning," he said on this week’s episode of the Glossy Podcast. “[Not only with] women's accessories, but also [by] relaunching men's, which we [did] last year ... [and] creating more of a gifting destination for top-class quality and American luxury." When the pandemic hit, however, “We went from this survival to contingency planning to then, as I like to call it, ‘thrival’ mode,” said Garde Due. “It was our job to start thinking of the opportunities that this pandemic created for the industry and for the luxury consumer, and look at the post-pandemic era and what was needed to get executed during the pandemic to be ready for that.” That meant focusing on developing Mark Cross’ wholesale and directly operated channels and catering to consumers in the U.S. and in mainland China, which Due sees as ”an ever-growing market share” opportunity.  Mark Cross first began to cater to the preferences of the millennials and Gen-Z consumer demographics in the fall of 2019 by launching an “in-house vintage website.” Even more recently, the brand has reacted to the changes accelerated by Covid-19 by “investing heavily into the digital sphere.” That's included partnering with companies like Hero and a personalized delivery service.  “Getting back to the [20]19 [sales] volumes, as well as enlarging our community, are the two main goals this year," said Garde Due.