Everlane was sold to Shein last week. The former founder is launching his own brand in response. (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)
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In response to the sale of Everlane to Shein, a deal that last week shocked and outraged customers and sustainability advocates, one of Everlane’s founders announced today the launch of a new brand with a new model, designed to truly sustain its values.
Michael Preysman, co-founder of Everlane in 2011, served as CEO until 2022 and then as executive chairman for three years, before stepping down from the board earlier this year.
Preysman was appalled by the purchase Everlane by Shein and the outcome for the company that he’d built around radical transparency.
The brand struck a chord moving from the perfect T-shirt to a full assortment. Everlane’s ethos was about sustainability and transparency. Everlane lists the factories it uses and they’re audited and named. Everylane also publishes material, labor and transport costs alongside its retail prices
The company had is heyday around 2015 and for the next five years, the brand soared. It faltered during the pandemic and wasn’t able to regain its equilibrium.
In today’s announcement, Preysman said he plans to build a brand around the same core values, but this time around, the company will be free from venture capital and private equity ownership.
That’s a rebuke to Everlane majority owner L Catterton. The private equity firm and Everlane CEO Alfred Chang were looking for an investor to contend with roughly $90 million in debt. The debt load, combined with declining sales and operational challenges, prompted L Catterton to look for an investor. The firm was reportedly open to selling the brand or giving it an additional capital infusion.
Shein’s acquisition of Everlane was approved by the board of L Catterton, whose members include LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault and his family.
For Everlane, the deal presents a lifeline, but not the one Preysman wanted to see.
“The Everlane sale has driven questions and conversation around the viability of sustainable fashion in 2026,” said a spokeswoman for Preysman, who is overseas and could not be reached. “Michael is betting that he can find a path forward informed by his learnings from the successes and shortcomings of the industry over the past decade.”
Preysman launched a waitlist group under the name stillradical.com. As of Tuesday afternoon, there were 4,540 sign ups.
“So we’re starting over,” he said in the email. “Same principles, but a new take. And this time: no venture capital, no private equity. Sign up is required. I’ll email you.”
– Michael Preysman, founder of Everlane
It’s not known where Preysman’s new brand will be manufactured, but Unlike Shein which relies heavily on sourcing finished products from China, about 70% of Everlane’s contracted garment factories are in Vietnam.
Shein is considered one, if not the most polluting fashion brands in the world. It emitted 16.7 million metric tons of CO2 in 2023 and emissions went up in 2024. Scope 3 emissions are up 170% over the past two years, according to Earth.org. The Chinese brand has the lowest possible rating on commitments, renewals advocacy and clean shipping, and a D-minus in materials and circularity. Yale University has called Shein “the biggest polluter in fast fashion.”
It remains to be seen whether sustainability is becoming ineffective in terms of the positioning and marketing of a brand. DTC brands with lofty ethics are now in decline. Bay Area-based Allbirds, an0ther vaunted sustainable fashion brand, sold off its assets to American Exchange Group in April for $39 million, down from a $4 billion valuation in 2021.
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