by Maija Chelsea
Now that Shein bought Everlane
The news broke last week and the millennial internet did what it always does: it grieved publicly, in comment sections, in group chats full of people who own at least one Everlane cashmere crewneck they paid too much for and justified entirely.
Shein, the ultrafast-fashion giant behind $5 clothes, has acquired Everlane, the brand that spent the better part of a decade selling the dream that you could look good, spend reasonably, and still sleep at night. The deal values Everlane at around $100 million, a steep fall for a brand that was worth an estimated $600 million when private equity came knocking back in 2020.
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“Radical transparency” and ethical fashion
Everlane built its whole identity on ethical factories and what it called “radical transparency” into how its clothes were made and priced. It was the brand for people who wanted to opt out of fast fashion without actually opting out of shopping. Now it belongs to the company that is, by most measures, everything Everlane claimed not to be.
Everlane’s CEO responded to the news by promising the brand would continue honouring its values, sustainability commitments, and quality standards, which is the corporate equivalent of telling your friends you won’t change after moving somewhere much more expensive. Maybe true, probably hopeful.
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Lowest price is the law?
Part of what made Everlane so vulnerable is what made them feel special in the first place. Everlane’s core categories are exactly where newer affordable luxury players like Reformation, Aritzia and Quince have trained shoppers to expect low prices and fast delivery. Once that happened, transparency became a harder sell than just cheaper. Good values don’t protect you from a lower price point across the street.
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Buying a reputation
Traditional brands plan collections months out, commit to inventory, and find out what people actually wanted when the markdowns start. Shein’s production speed and responsiveness is not a quirk of its model. It is the model. And it’s very difficult to compete with good intentions alone.
For Shein, buying Everlane isn’t really about adding another label to the portfolio. It’s about buying a reputation. As sustainability becomes a bigger factor in how people decide where to shop, owning a brand with an ethical association has real strategic value.
Cost that rarely show up on the price tag
Sustainable fashion isn’t dead. But the idea that one brand with a nice website and a good origin story could fix it was always a little naive. The clothes we wear are made somewhere, by someone, at a cost that rarely shows up on the price tag, no matter how transparent the brand claims to be.
The biggest question here is what “sustainable fashion” means moving forward, now that one of its most recognizable ambassadors just merged with its most recognizable villain and everyone involved is calling it an opportunity.
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Sources: Glossy, Retail Dive, NPR, The Street
About the Author
Maija Chelsea is a Communications Specialist for a non-profit organization. She is also the creative force behind Model Citizens–a fashion site at the intersection of her love for design and social insight, and a reverence for the slow, sustainable, and intentional. Her work has also appeared in The Claremont Review, F-Word, and flo. You can follow her on TikTok and Instagram.
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