You Can’t Buy Pedigree: The Acquisition of Everlane
What happened to Everlane? How did we get here?
They promised to be transparent. Intentional. The antidote to the growing fast-fashion epidemic.
Suddenly, Everlane is looking like a kid who got caught with their hand in the cookie jar. And just like that, the values and brand ethos of Everlane have now been called into question. Its acquisition by fast-fashion giant SHEIN has just about everyone clutching their proverbial pearls. While many have called out the brand in protest, some have abandoned them and others are simply wondering, what’s next?
THE GENESIS
Let’s roll back the clock to 2011, when Michael Preysman and Jesse Farmer launched the online direct-to-consumer brand with the premise of transparency in pricing and production materials. At the time, that kind of transparency was almost as scandalous as a Kardashian photo without Photoshop and a Facetune filter.
By 2014, the brand was beginning to move upscale when it decided to forge a partnership with Postmates for consumers in San Francisco and New York City. Nothing says high-end like same-day clothing delivery. Everlane had “arrived”.
But Everlane appeared to have arrived at the wrong destination because the brand was going “on sale”.
A CHANGE IN STRATEGY
They launched “Choose What You Pay Sales”. This allowed shoppers to pick one of three prices for an item.
The question is, were they running a fashion brand or Pick a Number on “The Price Is Right”?
In 2017, were they “moving on up” or keeping up with the Joneses when they opened their first brick and mortar stores in SoHo, Manhattan. The energy? Downtown Chic. The brand that started online landed in a retail neighborhood so fancy the New York accent sounded posh.
TROUBLE ON THE HORIZON
By 2020, former employees came forward with allegations of anti-Black behavior, retaliation, and efforts to discourage unionization. So much for that transparency that had become central to the brand’s identity.
That same year, Michael Preysman sold his shares to private equity firm L. Catterton, giving them a majority stake. Everlane was struggling. Then in walks SHEIN like an ice cold drink on a 100 degree day. That’s when L. Catterton made a deal with SHEIN unbeknownst to its original co-founder Presyman who found out about the acquisition shortly before it became official.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR EVERLANE?
What we know is that SHEIN has been looking for legitimacy much like Michael Corleone when he married Kay. They bought a customer list, a brand name, and a valuation of a hundred million dollars worth of credibility but you can’t buy pedigree.
