Fostering a relationship built on trust and transparency
our story
Four years ago, Everlane approached us not just with a challenge, but with a commitment rooted in their core mission: to build a more transparent, responsible, and purpose-driven fashion brand. Like many brands, they were facing the realities of damaged returns piling up—creating pressure on their teams and their warehouses. But Everlane didn’t want a simple quick fix; they wanted a solution that reflected their deeper values and supported a more sustainable, circular future.
From the very beginning, this partnership has been about much more than managing inventory. It’s a shared commitment to integrity, trust, and creating a system that benefits people, business, and the planet alike. What started as a pilot to address a growing backlog has grown into a long-term collaboration that embodies Everlane’s mission in action. We’re proud to stand alongside Everlane as they continue leading with purpose and driving meaningful change.
Everlane's Ecosystem of Solutions
resale
donation
repair
footwear recycling
fiber reclamation
responsible disposal
Service Level
Value Added Services
Service Offering
Quality Assessment
Sortation for Reuse & Recycling
Product Intake
Outerwear
Apparel
Footwear
Accessories
how it started
When we first connected with Everlane in 2021, they had more than 100,000 returned and damaged products piling up. Like many brands, they wanted a way to responsibly move this inventory out of warehouses without sending it to landfill, but they also knew that quick fixes wouldn’t solve the long-term challenge.
Together, we asked: How do we turn this backlog into a sustainable, ongoing program that benefits both the business and the planet?
We started small with trial runs and pilot programs to better understand Everlane’s product landscape, from outerwear and apparel to accessories. Over two years, we tested, refined, and built a foundation not just to address the backlog, but to prevent future ones from happening again.
By structuring this program around the Waste Hierarchy framework, we determined that reuse and donation would be the highest value channels, followed by textile-to-textile recycling, fiber reclamation and responsible disposal.
how it's going
Today, Everlane’s damaged returns program is a true circular system, thoughtfully integrated across their operations. Built in lockstep with their internal teams, our partnership cultivates transparency, trust, and continuous improvement. It’s efficient, effective, and—most importantly—it’s working to support Everlane’s mission and operational goals every step of the way.
Since launching the program, nearly 86% of items have gone to reuse channels like resale and donation.
Why it works
At the core of Everlane’s program is the Allocation Engine, Debrand’s proprietary algorithm that leverages existing sources of product data to enable faster, more accurate, and more sophisticated multi-conditional sortation. In this partnership, the Allocation Engine sorts Everlane’s products by condition, material, MSRP, and more to ensure they land in the most valuable channel across its next-life ecosystem of solutions.
The Allocation Engine also generates detailed reporting—everything from which products are being returned most often to which materials show up frequently—providing Everlane with data-rich insights to inform future product design and circularity initiatives.
Unlike typical brand-owned resale programs that require major operational investments, this model lets brands like Everlane engage in resale through a variety of wholesale, consignment, and donation partnerships with minimal internal resources required. This not only supports Everlane in achieving its impact goals but also supports the wider apparel industry’s circular infrastructure and the important players within it.
We’ve built an ecosystem of 12 next-life partners for Everlane’s products across Reuse, Recycling, and Responsible Disposal solution channels. This allows us to support organizations like Working Gear, which outfits job seekers with quality donated clothing and prepare them for the next chapter of their lives.
Featured Article
Can returns ever be sustainable?
Vogue Business took a deep dive into the growing cost and impact of e-commerce returns—and featured Everlane’s partnership with Debrand as one path forward. From tackling over 100,000 damaged items to piloting light refurbishment and optimizing for reuse, the article explores how our two-year pilot reshaped Everlane’s approach to returns.
It’s a candid look at the systemic challenges behind reverse logistics, and what it really takes to move the needle on waste.
where we're headed
The program we built with Everlane isn’t static. As their business grows, and as circular solutions continue to evolve, so does this partnership.
Today, we’re beginning to see changes in the types of products coming through, like fewer large backlogs, and a gradual increase in items heading to recycling solutions as technologies improve. With robust data flowing back to Everlane’s product teams, we’re helping them close the loop and turn product challenges into future opportunities through design insights, material choices, and smarter strategies.
What started with a backlog has become a blueprint for responsible product management. And we’re just getting started.
Everlane's 2024 Impact Report
Transparency is at the heart of Everlane’s mission. Learn more in their latest Impact Report:
