Everlane Is Getting Into the Designer Collaboration Game

For more than a decade, Everlane has been shorthand for elevated essentials, like light crewneck T-shirts, relaxed linen pants, and cloud-soft Alpaca knit-sweaters in every neutral shade available. But with its inaugural design collaboration, the label is ready to flip the script.

Everlane teamed up with independent, London-based label Marques'Almeida for an 18-piece collection. Available online now, it's filled with the easygoing shapes and eco-conscious materials that put Everlane on the map—just revamped in spring colors and bright prints courtesy of its adventurous design partners.

The lineup covers every base in a foundational spring wardrobe with refreshing twists. Using surplus fabrics from past collections, Everlane and Marques'Almeida poured zesty red-orange and electric acid green washes over netted cardigans and thicker, transitional weather-appropriate turtlenecks. An oversize denim jacket comes in a striped patchwork of three washes with a cargo mini skirt to match. Tie-dye is everywhere, from satin button-up shirts to coordinating slip dresses with thigh-high slits to barrel-leg utility pants.

Mathilde Mader, creative director at Everlane, tells Marie Claire she had followed Marques'Almeida's avant-garde designs for years before pursuing the partnership. In hindsight, they seemed almost fated to cross paths. Both Mader and Marques'Almeida heads Marta Marques and Paulo Almeida studied under the same professors at Central Saint Martins, albeit at different times.

That both labels use surplus fabrics and attempt to reduce their environmental impact created more points of mutual interest. But mostly, Mader was intrigued by the idea of teaming up with another relatively small label. "I'll be honest: For most people, it felt very unexpected," she says. "There were a fair amount of people that maybe in the company hadn't even really heard of them. So that was fun: They're not huge, but neither is Everlane."

The creative director expects longtime fans will enjoy the Technicolor spin Marques'Almeida brought to Everlane's much-loved basics. If they want more, this partnership is likely a one-time deal.

Mader tells Marie Claire the door is wide open for more capsules with other brands, ones that could be as expansive as a full collection or as simple as a co-designed T-shirt. "I think it's quite a healthy place to be in the brand that you're willing to have those conversations," she says. It's not just about finding new pieces to round out one's closet: "It's also just kind of about making friends, isn't it?" Though fresh wardrobe injections are definitely a plus.

The Everlane x Marques Almeida collection is available to shop now at Everlane.