Colors can lift people’s spirits,” says designer Lesley Evers. “I have a customer who said she started wearing our clothes and it changed her mindset. She ate better, started moving more and felt better about herself. I was so touched.”
Since 2008, Evers has gradually created a line of womenswear that embodies the sophisticated, exuberant, and practical needs and desires of her customers. Launching the company that bears her name with dresses and eventually selling at over 100 boutiques nationwide, Evers in 2012 opened a bricks-and-mortar shop in Oakland.
When in-person and online orders boomed, the company’s all-local manufacturing ethos had to expand overseas to scale up and meet demand. Even so, Evers remains committed to local sourcing of materials and services whenever possible.
The line has grown well beyond dresses (all bearing women’s names like Molly, Phoebe, Cara, Nadia and more) and includes new clothing and accessory items, plus homeware and gifts. Throughout, the original design vision remains the same. Emphasis in all categories leans to comfort, practicality and a delightful sense of liberated fun most often expressed with bold floral or graphic prints and pops of bright color that carry names such as those on a “Chicka Boom Orange” jacket, a “Dandelion” cardigan and other items.
Among the more sedate items are solid indigo denim pieces and two-tone dresses such as the “Drew” in a navy and white fern-patterned fabric and the A-line “Harriet” option that comes in navy scoops, but also offers livelier echinacea and blossom breeze pink.
Personable, customer-friendly service and dedication to employees could be considered givens for any successful small business, but are core practices Evers spends considerable time and effort maintaining. During Covid, she had to close the in-person shop and let people go. She pulled back, shifted to making masks and used the time to rejuvenate herself, design new items and refine the company’s delivery channels and manufacturing processes.
It’s fortunate she did, because from 2021 to 2022, Evers’ online business tripled, and then it doubled in 2023. In 2024, while the e-commerce business continues to thrive, there are three bricks-and-mortar shops: the flagship store in Oakland’s Rockridge district, and smaller shops in Palo Alto as well as in Portland, OR. Most recently, Evers has re-built the company’s wholesale website and has 10 stores carrying products and another 20 shops awaiting delivery of their orders.
“We have a channel where stores can apply,” says Evers. “To select who we choose, we basically look them up to see if they have good customer service, because that matters most to us.”
In a conversation focusing on new items introduced or expanded for the fall and holiday season, Evers says, “We’re sticking to bright colors, even in the fall. I go into deep burgundy, green, navy—with pops of pink.” She releases new products weekly, and a bird-themed shirt is already being knocked off by a company in China. It’s an odd, unpleasant badge of honor Evers says cannot be avoided.
“You can’t stop it,” Evers says. “I saw it because it popped up on my Instagram. You spend so much time making original things, but once it’s on the internet, people will copy it. As an artist, I have to let that go and just continue to make beautiful things, things that fit well and are practical and versatile.”
Practicality and versatility come together in dresses, tops and skirts; almost all with ever-important pockets perfect for carrying today’s pervasive cell phones. Dress length and fabric patterns vary so a dress worn to the office during the day can easily transition into evening wear with the addition of accessories like handbags, jewelry and boisterous or sophisticated tights, scarves, capes and jackets.
Evers likes to design sets, with matching tops and bottoms that pull a whole look together. Alternatively, the sets can be split up and paired with different items to achieve additional looks. The Blair blazer and matching Audrey cropped pant project a sleek, especially modern ensemble in black, red or olive check patterns. It’s easy to imagine switching out the jacket or pants with various shirts, pants or skirts.
A collection of handbags modeled on the round or oval-shaped 1970s Bermuda bags that featured wooden handles and removable cloth covers is new. “They’re a throwback to my middle school days, but I worked to make ours stand up and not floppy,” Evers explains. “With each order when we launched in June, you got two prints, one solid, one not. They sold out immediately, and we stopped advertising them until recently because people were getting impatient waiting for delivery. That’s no longer true, and they are popular for fall and gift-giving.”
Other fall-focused innovations are the Spencer, a raincoat in sea glass print with a matching umbrella; capes with matching pants; short and long pajama sets and bathrobes; the Emma sweaters, and bedding and homeware—everything from sheets to duvet covers to mugs, tumblers, aprons and beyond. Belts in several colors come with custom buckles featuring paired frogs, birds or clamshells that nestle and clip together.
Specific to the holidays, Evers highlights a new line of party apparel and gowns. Party dresses with black feathers on the wrists add subtle, festive expression. Long-sleeve T-shirts styled with similar feathers can be paired with low-to-the-ground, pleated maxi skirts in organza. “You can wear just the solid T-shirt with any of our skirts or jeans, or do the whole setup for dressier occasions,” she suggests. The eye-catching black and fuchsia Arabella gown clings to the torso before flowing in layers like water and arrives in an enlarged, classic filigree pattern.
Looking into her crystal ball while aware of market challenges that include tough regulatory rules, the ever-escalating price of real estate, swiftly changing technology for retail and e-commerce, and keeping price points manageable, Evers still manages to find hope. The new store in Palo Alto feels like “the right move at the right time,” she notes. Furthermore, the wholesale market is greeting the line with open arms. And by blending local and overseas processes, she’s holding the prices steady.
“We reach profitability and stability by expanding our market share, not by raising prices,” says Evers. “I want our clothing to be affordable and also fun, well-fitting and diverse enough to appeal to a broad customer base.”
