Shein Is Said to Face Investor Pressure to Slash Valuation to $30 Billion BoF

Its products are now sold in German department store Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof, for instance. But to kickstart its next stage of growth, Fashionphile is now investing in a physical retail footprint, including its own stores as well as selling wholesale to other retailers such as Saks Off Fifth and duty free shops. In 2025, Fashionphile will open new brick-and-mortar locations in San Francisco, Dallas, Atlanta, Boca Raton and Philadelphia. By the end of the year, it will have a footprint of 14 outposts in various formats.

LA-based fashion label Clare V. closed not only its store in the Brentwood Country Mart shopping centre, which is now within the Palisades Fire evacuation warning border, but all its shops across the city. Veronica Beard, which has a store in the Palisades Village mall that is now surrounded by destruction, has also closed its Melrose and Beverly Hills stores and donated to the Red Cross. Warehouses, e-commerce and corporate operations are also being halted by local businesses. Fashion brand Donni closed its warehouse and paused e-commerce shipments, while Dôen closed both its location in the Brentwood Country Mart and its corporate office. The Business of Fashion is a cutting-edge fashion media company conceived for today’s global hyper-connected world. Founded in 2007 by Imran Amed, BoF is known for its authoritative, agenda-setting point of view on the global fashion industry and is an indispensable resource for fashion executives, creatives, fashion students and entrepreneurs in over two hundred countries.

By 2025, secondhand sales will account for 10 percent of the global apparel market, and the segment is expected to grow at a 12 percent compound annual growth rate to reach $350 billion by 2028. An “inflation overhang,” the idea that customers take time to adjust to higher prices, is not the only dynamic at play. Even customers with growing discretionary spend are prioritising experiences and travel over fashion. In the third quarter of 2024, the top category that US and European customers splurged on was eating out, followed by travel and buying groceries.

Connect with BoF

• View our branded range of ergonomic seating solutions, suitable for a variety of workplace environments.
• This year’s games attracted unprecedented interest from the industry, beyond the mainstay sportswear giants like Nike and Adidas.
• A flexible range of options suitable for desk, shared spaces, conference and meeting rooms.
• Vinted reports that 65 percent of its buyers prefer to buy fewer, more expensive items that last, rather than more, cheap fashion items.

Welcome to our range of designer stools, including contemporary, classic and modern styles to suit any workspace. Optimise your workspace and elevate employee experience with our complete range of flexible, collaborative, and innovative products. With over 30 years’ experience we have the expertise to deliver and implement your projects. The essential daily round-up of fashion news, analysis, and breaking news alerts. The Indian skin and hair care brand has closed a seed extension round led by Unilever Ventures that the founders say will power its global partnership with the LVMH-owned retailer.

Viral microtrends have mostly become a useful tool to help brands and retailers market to younger shoppers. But with the apparent slowdown underway and TikTok’s fate in question, Herren has been encouraging brands to test more on Instagram and focus on longer-term strategies, rather than going viral. It’s also likely because people are increasingly aware that these microtrends don’t usually last. Microtrends have become “meme-like abstractions,” said Michael Appler, communications director at analytics firm Trendalytics.

The newer platforms aren’t yet a major growth driver for all of their brand partners. Halara, for example, sells on Bazar to meet internal sustainability goals instead of meaningfully increasing sales. Still, the startups are launching services to make it easier for labels to maximise their sales growth potential from reselling returned wares. Brands should see increased resale revenue as a result, while Revive can move closer to its goal of generating nine figures in revenue in the next five years. In addition to being a marketplace, Bazar lets brands send customer returns directly to its network of warehouse partners where data is pulled about those items’ condition and then listed onto Bazar’s site. It currently has two stores in Stockholm, one in London and Berlin, and three in South Korea operated by local distribution partner Handsome Corp.

Many brands have treated the climate crisis as a useful marketing tool, while viewing the impact to the bottom line as a Bof distant threat. Among over 9,000 structures damaged or destroyed are the homes of Jen Atkin, founder of hair-care label Ouai, Hope Smith, founder of beauty brand Mutha, celebrity hair stylist Jenny Cho and Marta Freedman, the founder of gifting suite Air Milkshake. Beyoncé’s mother, Tina Knowles, who oversees the star’s hair care brand Cécred, as well as musician and wellness brand founder Jhené Aiko, also lost their homes in the fire. In order to reverse its sales decline, the company is reportedly considering selling off poorer-performing, lower-margin brands and cutting other costs. Investors want to see the fat trimmed, and more room created for future growth.

Masterclass The State of Fashion 2025

The company forecasted lower-than-expected operating profit for 2025, citing slower sales growth and increased volatility due to US tariffs. The company appointed three new directors to its board, including Starboard Value CEO Jeffrey Smith, as part of an agreement to resolve a months-long dispute over the company’s performance in the skincare and beauty segment. McCartney, daughter of the Beatles’ Paul McCartney, launched her eponymous label in partnership with the Gucci Group, then a division of what is now Kering, in 2001.

The news sparked concerns over the potential economic impact and sent financial markets into turmoil. The platform has long been one of China’s most important marketing tools, but until now has struggled to become a sales engine for brands. In the middle of its worst drop in a decade — in both sales and “cool” factor — sportswear giant Nike got a much-needed executive shake-up.

Sign up to our newsletter

Nike slowed down, suffering from a lack of innovation in product and marketing, culminating in the departure of CEO John Donahoe in September. At the lowest end of the pricing spectrum, competition has ramped up with the advances of Temu and TikTok Shop, while Shein continues to fight for its initial public offering in London. As luxury consumers steadily gravitated away from streetwear, Our Legacy’s minimalist assortment of denim, soft tailoring and knitwear was a major beneficiary of the “quiet luxury” trend where shoppers valued a more elevated, logo-free style of dressing. Top-selling SKUs today include its $600 Camion leather boot, along with its trompe l’oiel distressed jeans made with its signature “digital denim” print technique. The brand also has a nascent womenswear business, which launched back in 2018. The luxury conglomerate’s venture arm—dedicated to investing in small creative companies—has taken an undisclosed minority stake in the brand, The Business of Fashion can reveal.

The ninth annual State of Fashion report by McKinsey & Company and BoF Insights, The Business of Fashion’s data and advisory team, reveals that economic and geopolitical challenges, combined with shifts in customer values, will define a turbulent year ahead. Download the full report to understand the 10 themes that will shape the industry and the opportunities for growth in 2025. This article first appeared in The State of Fashion 2025, an in-depth report on the global fashion industry, co-published by BoF and McKinsey & Company. Create campaigns that highlight the craftsmanship and quality of products, the innovation behind them or competitive prices to justify a purchase to shoppers. The denim label Mother’s first store burned to the ground days before opening.