Paying lip service to ethical labor practices or cleaner manufacturing processes won’t work anymore. When brands talk about the values they stand for, they have to mean it. And they have to deliver on it.

But can you translate this relatively localized experience into something broader and more accessible to the masses? Can the idea of artisanal quality and personal connections exist beyond the bounds of a neighborhood farmers’ market? And can it exist with prices that the mainstream consumer can afford?

Web and social media to create direct, personal relationships on a massive scale.

We hear the refrain “They don’t make ’em like they used to” because, well, they really don’t make ’em like they used to.

Social media is marketing, product innovation, and customer service rolled into one.

The company makes prototype clothing designs and showcases them on the social media site to gauge customer interest. The most popular ones get made and sold through

Growth alone isn’t the endgame; scaling to meet customer demand is. Above all, these upstarts prize the human touch – albeit with no physical presence – in every customer interaction and in all aspects of their business.

These nascent brands do more than automate customer interactions – they humanize them.

Global supply chains force retailers to gamble on inventory far in advance and to spend too much time and money overseeing the entire process.