Selling Ethical Fashion to the Whole Foods Set

When the founders of clothing retailer Zady went to fashion trade shows looking for suppliers, they asked apparel line reps a simple question: Where do your clothes come from? Most of the answers were vague; one company said “the Orient.” Only a handful of small American factories and boutique craftsmakers overseas were eager to talk about their garments’ origins. These were the kinds of manufacturers Zady co-founder Soraya Darabi wanted to work with.

Zady is among a growing number of online retailers that are betting on a backlash against low-wage factories churning out cheap clothes meant to last only a season. The startups, including San Francisco-based Web stores Cuyana and Everlane, are charting a middle course between mass-market retailers such as Hennes & Mauritz and Zara and exclusive luxury brands out of the reach of most shoppers. And they believe customers will pay more for classic, higher-quality apparel and accessories that are made more ethically than mass-market, low-cost clothing.