Everlane sale – Everlane, once known for ethical fashion, is reportedly being sold for $100 million to Shein, a retailer facing accusations of forced labor and research scrutiny over its environmental impact. The deal adds to a string of setbacks for millennials’ sustainabili
Everlane. the direct-to-consumer fashion label that built its reputation on ethical sourcing. is reportedly on its way to being folded into Shein in a $100 million sale.. For customers who treated “doing good” as part of the product. the news lands like a jolt: Shein has been credibly accused of forced labor and has been described in Yale research as “the biggest polluter in fast fashion.”
The sale follows years of financial strain at Everlane. with majority owner L Catterton beginning to shop the business around in March.. Even as the company’s finances looked uncertain. few seemed to expect its next chapter to be with a Chinese retailer whose business model has been under sharp ethical and environmental scrutiny.
The Everlane deal is also the latest setback for a broader wave of millennial-era brands that rose in the 2010s promising cleaner materials. lower environmental harm. and more accountable supply chains.. Last month, Allbirds sold off its footwear assets, abandoned its environmental mission, and pivoted to artificial intelligence.. Two years earlier. Beautycounter shut down without warning after its acquisition by the Carlyle Group; founder Gregg Renfrew later bought the brand back and relaunched it as Counter.
That arc has become harder to ignore as the political and regulatory climate shifted.. These brands took off during the Obama years. when millennials were widely described as hopeful that business. government. and consumers could work together on problems like climate change.. Now. the reckoning is being felt as climate policy and DEI initiatives are dismantled. and the collapse of these “idealistic” brands lands as more than just a business story for those who rooted their buying habits in a belief system.
There is also a sharper tension inside the marketplace itself: mission-driven brands helped set expectations. then struggled to keep up with the competitors rushing in.. The push for transparent supply chains and cleaner materials helped push recycling and eco-materials forward across industries. but it also meant other companies adopted similar ideas and consumers grew harder to hold without constant innovation.. For brands like Everlane and Allbirds, the momentum that once differentiated them proved difficult to maintain.
Everlane’s ethical identity is central to the disappointment. and it is tied to how the company operated in its early years.. Founder Michael Preysman used marketing talent to spotlight fashion’s environmental footprint and the lives of garment workers. including an ambitious goal in 2019 to eradicate virgin plastic from its supply chain.. That year. Everlane’s San Francisco headquarters was described as turning ethics into everyday practice. from an office kitchen stocked with food in minimal packaging to sustainability leadership emphasizing the hard work of keeping garments moving without sealing each one in its own plastic bag.
Everlane’s approach also included regular factory visits focused on improving workers’ lives. including buying motorcycle helmets and planting community gardens.. Similar firsthand reporting described Allbirds’ early work on materials. including efforts in 2018 to replace plastic foam in sneakers with a polymer derived from sugarcane rather than fossil fuels—aimed at slashing the shoes’ carbon footprint.. In the same year. Beautycounter’s saleswomen were described as traveling to Capitol Hill as they lobbied lawmakers to better regulate personal care products.
It is in the sequence of business outcomes that the tension becomes clearest.. These brands helped move the market toward recycled plastic. eco-friendlier sneaker materials. and formula changes to remove known toxins. but their influence also drew intensifying competition and pressure to keep growing.. In the latest chapter. Everlane is being sold; Allbirds has pivoted away from its environmental mission and raised $50 million to lease compute power to AI developers; and Beautycounter has been forced into a restart under Counter.
The financial backdrop also explains why the endings look so similar.. The companies. the story says. emerged when venture capitalists were willing to pump cash into consumer brands with less emphasis on profitability. and the shift came when investors demanded returns that forced decisions breaking the businesses.. Allbirds. for its part. went public with an initial market capitalization of $2.16 billion. ran at losses for years. sold its intellectual property to American Exchange Group for $39 million. and then pivoted again.. Beautycounter and Everlane took the private equity route.
The relationship between these events is built into the timelines themselves: Everlane’s sale is tied to financial trouble and investor-led shopping in March. while Allbirds and Beautycounter followed parallel patterns of backing. breakage. and exit—one turning to AI after selling assets. the other shutting down after acquisition—leaving mission-driven shopping expectations colliding with investor returns and changing politics.
The broader worry now is not just whether ethics can survive inside business. but whether the next generation will still see “a force for good” as a realistic model.. The alternative examples cited stand in contrast: Patagonia and Eileen Fisher are described as having built long-lasting businesses by growing at a sane pace for decades.. Boll & Branch is described as growing quickly by leaning into workers’ rights and quality, particularly among older, higher-income consumers.. Meanwhile, smaller brands—American Giant, Cleobella, Christy Dawn, Hanna Andersson—remain committed to sustainability and workers’ rights.
For now, the Everlane-to-Shein report closes one high-profile chapter in the story of millennial optimism about ethical capitalism.. The founders of Everlane. Allbirds. and Beautycounter “couldn’t have imagined” their companies ending in such different directions. but the innovations they pioneered are still described as influencing the industry.
Everlane Shein L Catterton ethical fashion forced labor accusations fast fashion Allbirds Beautycounter Carlyle Group Counter sustainability venture capital direct-to-consumer DEI climate policy
Damn, so much for ethical fashion.
I didn’t even know Everlane was still around. If it’s true they’re selling to Shein for $100 mil then yeah that’s gonna look real bad. People will still buy it anyway though, like “made in sweatshop but cute.”
Wait so Shein is buying Everlane… but doesn’t Everlane already have some Chinese factories? Like I feel like everybody’s mad but this is just capitalism math, not like anything changed. Also $100 million seems low or high? Idk. Either way, the whole “doing good” thing got flipped.
Everlane was one of those brands that pretended they were saving the world, then suddenly they’re folded into Shein? Sounds like the “mission-driven” part was just marketing. And the forced labor accusations and the polluter research stuff… like how is that not a dealbreaker. I guess L Catterton was shopping it around and figured nobody would notice, but we notice. Millennial brands falling apart, same story different year.