Founded in 2010, Everlane became so synonymous with a certain breed of millennial consumerism that it was supposed to be the exact opposite of Shein. It essentially sold elevated basics, telling a generation of anxious, high-minded shoppers that they could feel morally satisfied buying another pair of simple ballet flats or high-waisted black skinny jeans. By contrast, Sheen’s company has become notorious by flooding the Internet with fashionable, surprisingly cheap, mass-produced clothing. It has been criticized for years for alleged poor business practices.
Given how differently Shein and Everlane positioned themselves, many people online felt the takeover fell somewhere between darkly satirical and downright miserable. Fashion writer Derek Jay, known online as “The Menswear Guy,” expressed this vibe in a post on X: Under Shein, he wrote, “Everlane’s ‘radical transparency’ means you can read about the little kid making your boring gray crewneck sweater.”
However, the deal makes perfect sense. In the long term, it may seem like a preview of where Chinese consumer companies are heading next.
Chinese e-commerce companies have largely conquered the global market by selling cheap things on a large scale. Companies like Shein and Temu have thrived in part because of the “de minimis” loophole, a U.S. trade rule that allows packages worth less than $800 to enter the country duty-free and with relatively little customs scrutiny. This system has become the backbone of a new era of cross-border e-commerce, enabling Chinese companies to ship cheap goods directly to American consumers faster and more efficiently than many traditional retailers can achieve.
But after US President Donald Trump imposed sweeping new tariffs on Chinese imports and ended the de minimis exemption, the economics underpinning this model began to falter. Chinese companies quickly realized that they could no longer rely solely on flooding Western markets with cheap products. If they wanted to continue growing internationally, they needed something more sustainable: a good old-fashioned brand.
Shein’s purchase of Everlane, however culturally cursed it may seem, is part of a broader trend already unfolding across Chinese commerce and manufacturing. Increasingly, Chinese companies are trying to move beyond anonymous, low-cost production and toward owning well-known global brands associated with quality, lifestyle, and prestige.
One of the clearest examples comes from Temu’s parent company, Pinduoduo. In March, the company announced a major new initiative called New PinMu, a multibillion-dollar effort aimed at helping Chinese manufacturers build premium global brands. The project is part of a larger strategic vision outlined by Pinduoduo co-CEO Jiazhen Zhao, who has been hyping the company’s ambitions to raise manufacturing standards and create pathways for Chinese factories to move up the value chain.
Meanwhile, the Chinese coffee chain Luckin Coffee, which has become one of Starbucks’ biggest competitors, recently acquired Blue Bottle, the specialty coffee brand that helped define third-wave American coffee culture. Anta Sports, the Chinese sportswear giant that started out largely as a local sneaker company, has spent years buying up premium global sportswear brands, including controlling stakes in Arc’teryx and Salomon.
This trend also reflects broader political pressures within China. The government has become increasingly critical of the brutal price wars and hyper-competition that dominate industries such as e-commerce and electric cars, a phenomenon often referred to as “circumvention.” Beijing now wants companies to focus more on sustainable growth, advanced manufacturing, and global competitiveness rather than an endless race to the bottom.
