Shein Acquiring Everlane Unmasks the State of "Ethical" Fashion
The reported $100 million deal is the latest example of a company caught between its stated ideals and the realities of scaling a business.
Most fashion people spend the month of May dissecting the Met Gala and Cannes Film Festival or perfecting a summer destination packing list. But on May 17, style group chats turned into amateur M&A forums with the Puck News report that Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein is acquiring direct-to-consumer brand Everlane.
Line Sheet's Lauren Sherman first reported Everlane's current owner, private equity firm L Catterton, approved a sale to Shein valuing the brand at $100 million. Alfred Chang, its current CEO, had apparently been contemplating the sale for some time to resolve around $90 million in debt—which accrued as more brands encroached on Everlane's "Basics, but better" turf and sales took a tumble. Still, for shoppers who know Everlane as a sustainability-based brand first and a hub for cool-girl staples second, it was a surprise.
Everlane, the direct-to-consumer basics brand, is being acquired by Shein.
Since founder Michael Preysman's first collection in 2011, Everlane was positioned as a more thoughtful alternative to the world of fast fashion. Rather than releasing excessively large collections at a rapid clip, Everlane would only sell a limited edit of essentials crafted from organic materials. And, it would share every step in its supply chain on its website, tracking carbon emissions and noting where each item was produced. The brand did eventually expand into denim, swimwear, and the occasional designer or celebrity collaboration, but it still positioned itself as a leader in "radical transparency" and "ethical" shopping.
Everlane's new parent company, on the other hand, doesn't have as pearly of a reputation in the sustainability space. Several reports have surfaced linking its $3 T-shirts and $10 dresses to labor exploitation; it's also been called "Fashion's Biggest Polluter." Naturally, fashion insiders and casual shoppers have had the same question: Aren't these brands at odds?
But Everlane is hardly the first brand to end up caught between their stated ambitions and their budget sheet. Sometimes, like Mara Hoffman in 2024, a brand will opt out of the fashion system altogether to protect their integrity when the going gets expensive. Other times, like Reformation, brands accept an infusion of cash from a private equity or venture capital firm—and then have to meet heightened sales targets. Those moves sometimes come with accusations that product quality worsened or became less eco-friendly over time, as the label scales back its standards to produce even more goods.
Everlane had attempted branching out from its core products and eco-friendly mission with designer and celebrity collaborations.
Shein, meanwhile, is better known for eyebrow-raisingly low prices and accusations of supply chain malpractice.
Sticking to brand values and growing a business aren't always a binary, though. Eileen Fisher has managed to generate an estimated $300 million in annual revenue and operate 50 stores as a privately held clothing brand, all without sacrificing its B-Corp status. Then there's Patagonia: where environmental activism is as important as designing a perfect quarter-zip fleece, and whose founder, Yvon Chouinard, has said "making a profit is not the goal." Still, it's managed to become a multi-billion dollar business.
For now, Everlane's online store copy still reads like its original ideals are still in tact. "We're all about putting our principles into practice, making fashion more responsible, and weaving a more sustainable future—for your wardrobe and the planet," a sustainability landing page says. We'll see if its new owner has a new mission statement.
