Once upon a time, there was sustainability: Shein acquires Everlane

The green facade of a certain approach to fashion is crumbling down. Shein, the widely discussed colossus of the most aggressive kind of fast fashion, acquires Everlane, known as a symbol of ethical fashion. The contradiction – or rather, the short circuit – has occurred

by Massimiliano Viti

Not even Alex Proyas, director of Dark City (1998), could have even imagined that one day Everlane, considered as one of the symbols of ethical fashion, would be acquired by Shein, the Chinese superfast fashion colossus, often criticized for the environmental and social impact of its business model, as well as for the gray areas of its supply chain. The story narrated in Dark City takes place in a world controlled by aliens, capable of transforming reality. Due to the evident contradiction on which the agreement between Everlane and Shein is set, it is easier to believe this is a manipulation than to accept it as a reality.

Shein acquires Everlane

“It’s as if SeaWorld had acquired PETA”. This is the reaction, published on Instagram, of the designer Camille Witt to the news reported by The Puck and The Information on May 17. In short, Shein has acquired the clothing brand Everlane, based in San Francisco, from its majority shareholder L Catterton, the Arnault family’s investment vehicle (LVMH). The deal, as reported by Puck and The Information, values Everlane at 100 million dollars. At the heart of this transaction was the debt accumulated by the brand, founded in 2010 by Michael Preysman and Jesse Farmer, that focused on the concept of radical transparency.

Radical transparency?

This “radical transparency” was made explicit by the publication of various factors. First: the detailed cost of every product. Second: the comparison with traditional retail prices. Third: the information on producers and the declared attention towards ethics and sustainability. Actually, the implied slogan was: “You know exactly what you are buying”.

At its peak, when the company raised an 85 million dollar funding round led by L Catterton in 2020, the brand was valued at 550-600 millions. Then, in 2023, Michael Preysman stepped down from his operational role and, the following year, L Catterton became the majority shareholder. Among the investors is the venture capital firm Maveron, one of Allbirds’ earliest financial backers.

The beginning of the end

2024 was the beginning of the end. Market conditions turned out to be disadvantageous and Everlane’s transparency appeared less attractive compared to the value for money and the convenience of the competitors’ products.

Even though the founder Michael Preysman had often associated Everlane to transparency, rather than sustainability, from 2022 onward the brand started to take advantage of its Cleaner Fashion platform in order to highlight the use of environmentally friendly materials and responsible manufacturing. Everlane declared itself “actively committed to cleaning up the industry” and to make fashion “more responsible”.

But, then, it had to deal with the market and with financial reports that progressively started to point out that its business was no longer economically viable. Greenwashing, inflation and the slowdown in spending on non-essential goods had transformed into its own De Profundis.

To exploit consumers’ awareness

Katya Moorman, editor-in-chief of No Kill Magazine and fashion communication professor at the Pratt Institute, goes straight to the point. In fact, she states that the significant direction changes of both Everlane and Allbirds prove that within the sustainability sector there were people who were “merely exploiting consumers’ awareness”.

Then, for Sourcing Journal, she added: “the clothing production, with the exception of small independent brands that produce made-to-measure items, requires scalability, and scalability requires a larger production” Structurally, sustainability is at odds with the growth model. I don’t think that any of these brands (Allbirds and Everlane, editor’s note) has ever been honest about this, either with their customers or with themselves”.

The reasons for the takeover

But why was Everlane on Shein’s wish list? The answer is simple: a brand that claims to be based on a Radical Transparency strategy could significantly shift Shein’s narration. It could help it to have a cleaner image and a higher positioning in the basic clothing segment. Not only. It allows the Chinese colossus to have a much more balanced portfolio in preparation for a potential IPO and, perhaps, even to avert the threat represented by Trump’s tariffs.

Read also: