Episode
Shein bought Everlane. What does it mean for sustainable fashion?
- Podcast
- The Glossy Podcast
- Published
- May 22, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 1937
- Processing state
not_requested
Actions
POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-glossy-podcast-1106778/episodes/shein-bought-everlane-what-does-it-mean-for-sustainable-fashion/transcription-requests
Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-glossy-podcast-1106778/shein-bought-everlane-what-does-it-mean-for-sustainable-fashion.md
Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.
Summary
Earlier this week, Glossy wrote about Everlane’s reported sale to Shein, a deal that will put one of the defining sustainability-adjacent DTC brands of the 2010s inside the world’s most scrutinized ultra-fast-fashion machine. The headline was a shock to many, as the two companies represent almost opposite ends of the modern fashion conversation. Everlane has built its identity around “radical transparency,” elevated basics and factory disclosure since its 2010 founding by Michael Preysman and Jesse Farmer. On the other hand, Shein, founded in 2008, has become known for rock-bottom prices, rapid production, and ongoing criticism from fair labor and sustainability advocates. It is also known for its $66 billion valuation in 2023, when it was reported that the company had started to chase an IPO. On this week’s Glossy Fashion Podcast, Jasmine Malik Chua, climate and labor editor at Sourcing Journal, joined the conversation to talk through what the deal says about brand values, investor pressure and the future of sustainability-led fashion. Chua has reported extensively on Shein and Temu, forced labor, textile waste, garment worker protections, sustainability regulation, and climate risk. Her first reaction to the Everlane news, she said, was visceral. “I think I just screamed inside for like two hours,” Chua said. The reported deal follows a difficult period for Everlane, which had been carrying significant debt and not been profitable for some time. But for Chua, the story points to a fundamental tension between slow-fashion values from brands like Everlane and the kind of fast-growth that venture-backed brands are expected to deliver. “Due diligence is a cost,” Chua said on the podcast. “Doing the right thing doesn’t come cheap.” As VCs demand more from the brands they…