About this episode

Sammi Cohen analyzes the contrasting paths of Everlane and Reformation in the ethical fashion industry, highlighting their challenges and developments.

They launched a year apart with nearly identical pitches: shop online without the guilt. Everlane sold radical transparency about factory costs and markups. Reformation sold sustainable, vintage-inspired style with a wink. Both became the "ethical option" for a generation of shoppers, both took private equity money within months of each other in 2019 and 2020, and both saw their founders step back from day-to-day operations around the same time. Then their paths split. Today, Sammi breaks down how a public reckoning over workplace culture nearly sank Reformation in 2020, and why it recovered anyway. Meanwhile, Everlane's unraveling was quieter: leadership turnover, stagnant product, mounting debt and a liquidation loan that eventually led to Shein acquiring a majority stake in a deal that wiped out shareholders. Sammi also digs into Reformation's July 2026 IPO on the NYSE, including a $92 million loan taken out just before filing that funded a dividend to existing investors, and what that means for the public investors buying in now. Plus, why the brand whose entire pitch was "know your factory" ended up owned by one of the biggest names in fast fashion, and what Everlane founder…

People in this episode

Host: Sammi Cohen

Topics covered

• ethical fashion
• business
• sustainability
• workplace culture
• private equity
• IPO

Keywords

• Everlane
• Reformation
• ethical fashion
• private equity
• IPO
• workplace culture
• sustainability
• Michael Preysman
• Shein

Sponsors

Bilt

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Everlane, Reformation, Shein, NYSE

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