On May 17, rumors broke that Shein had acquired Everlane. If it wasn’t officially confirmed three days later, it would read as satire: a brand that became popular for its commitments to radical transparency and sustainability is now under the umbrella of a brand known for its opaque practices and mass production. While the news was a shock to many customers who felt they had an accessible brand they could trust, the sale didn’t happen in a vacuum. After years of growth since its 2011 launch, Everlane struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic and failed to regain its footing. Private equity firm L Catterton took a majority stake in the brand in 2020; founder Michael Preysman stepped down in 2021, and leadership changes, layoffs, and debt followed. Thus, a $100 million acquisition, one that not only shocked customers, but also the very people who started the brand ensued.
Michael Preysman, who has spent the last year working on an electrolyte brand called Drink Magna, steps back into the world of fashion to address what happened in his own words, and reveal what he plans to do about it.
When it was announced that ultra-fast-fashion brand Shein had acquired Everlane, the clothing company I founded in 2011, I quickly realized that the most viral thing I’ve ever done was something I didn’t even do.
When I started Everlane in 2011, I was 25 years old and had the fortune of growing it to a significant size with an amazing group of people. We built something really meaningful, deeply rooted in an idea which challenged companies that had zero transparency and zero understanding of where their products were made. They make the product mostly in China, ship it to Italy, do the final steps in Italy, and say “Made in Italy.” It was completely dishonest.
I grew up on the West Coast in Northern California, which is the epitome of democratization, and I felt we could use the internet to bring that level of democratization to the most basic product: a white t-shirt. It struck a chord, and we were able to move from the t-shirt into a full set of beautiful merchandise. It was always about selling quality and the simplicity of that, while focusing on the story of sustainability and transparency. Around 2015, we had carried ourselves pretty far as a novel concept, and then we invested in design, bringing on our first true creative director. For those five years, the brand catapulted.
During the pandemic, though, shifts in the market and attitudes toward sustainability changed the business. We saw it in the data. Everlane was about sustainability, but it was also about transparency as a whole, and I think people still cared about that. But Everlane’s challenge was a lack of product-market fit. By 2021 I knew it was time to transition to a new CEO while I remained on the board. But after Andrea O’Donnell, who was CEO from 2021-2024, left, my involvement didn’t make as much of an impact and I decided it was the right time to step away entirely. At that time, I didn’t see the company heading in a way that reflected the original vision. It’s like parents with their children; sometimes you can’t tell them what to do.
On May 22, when the Shein deal finalized it was a shock; I found out 20 minutes before. I knew nothing about it, and I felt very disappointed. The idea that this would happen wasn’t something I ever imagined. They’re the opposite of what I wanted. It’s clearly ironic, and in some ways, it’s sort of like life is stranger than fiction. I felt let down by Everlane, but also like I let people down. I knew that what we built at Everlane came from a lot of heart and soul and created a movement. And yet at the same time, it felt like that movement had sort of dissipated in its own way. But then, seeing the kind of visceral [negative] reactions people had to this news gives some hope that many people still care. I realize Everlane gave people the idea that companies could do better. We weren’t perfect, and there were times when we definitely made mistakes, but that’s part of being human.
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