It’s been a while since I last posted, and in that time, the fashion industry hasn’t become more sustainable. Weird!
But we have a lot to catch up on, so I decided that my return post would be a short (or, let’s be honest, long) review of the biggest events in (not so) sustainable fashion this year.
Everlane Bought by Ultra-Fast Fashion Brand Shein
Let’s start with the reveal that had everyone’s panties in a twist, mine included: well-known “ethical” fashion darling Everlane was sold to Ultra-Fast Fashion Giant Shein earlier this year. The news sent the entire sustainability world into a full-blown meltdown. But why was this such a big deal?
For that, we need a quick history lesson. Everlane was founded back in 2010 by Michael Preysman, as a direct-to-consumer basics brand built on what it called “radical transparency”: showing customers exactly how and where every T-shirt, tote, and wool coat was made. For a solid decade, it was the poster child for “sustainable, but cute”.
However, behind the scenes, though, the illusion was fading. Sales slumped hard during COVID; there were unionization attempts followed by mass layoffs and even accusations of systemic racism from former staffers. Meanwhile, the private equity owner (an LVMH-backed fund) held roughly $90 million of Everlane’s debt. So when the sale was approved in May, it wasn’t exactly a shock for those who’d been keeping a close eye on the spreadsheets.
It was a shock to everyone else.
Because the buyer was Shein. Yes, the Shein that pumps out like a billion new items a day (yea, yea, that’s exaggerated), with emissions that jumped to more than double in just two years.
And the price tag? A reported $100 million. $500 million less than Everlane’s peak valuation, when investors still believed “radical transparency” was a business model, not just a vibe.
So, was this secretly good news maybe? Were people hoping that Shein was working on its ethics? Sort of, for about five minutes. Some people floated the theory that Shein was buying an improved reputation by hiding behind Everlane’s good rep to deflect from the labor allegations and mountains of polyester. Everlane’s CEO, for his part, insisted that the brand would keep running independently and “stay true to its longstanding values”, aka “please, don’t come for us”.
Of course, the commentary was brutal, but I think the imperfectidealist on YouTube explained it best. Everlane had a reputation of being an ethical brand in the beginning, but it hasn’t been like that for a long while. So while it is interesting to see such a brand sell out, it isn’t all that surprising.
Vogue called it a metaphor for the entire state of sustainable fashion this year, and I have to agree.
So there you have it: the brand that built an empire on transparency just got radically transparent on who’s really buying the show
Phia, the “Never Overpay” App that was Quietly Overcharging Everyone else
Next up, a scandal that isn’t strictly a “sustainability” story, but is absolutely a “let’s talk about ethics in fashion-adjacent business” story, so I’m including it here.
Phia is the shopping browser extension co-founded by Phoebe Gates (yes, that Gates) and her Stanford roommate, Sophia Kianni, promising shoppers they’ll never “overpay” by scanning websites for the best price and automatically applying discounts. Amazing premise with a star-studded investor list that includes Khloé Kardashian and Hailey Bieber. The start-up raised more than $40 million and was supposed to be the girlboss success story of 2026.
But alas, Bloomberg, alongside independent researcher Ben Edelman and rival Capital One Shopping, found that Phia’s extension was quietly “cookie stuffing”. This means that Phia was opening a background tab and slipping in its own affiliate code. Translation: Phia was pocketing commissions on sales it never actually influenced, skimming money away from retailers, creators, and publishers who did the work.
A spokesperson claimed the company only learned of it within “the last 24 hours” of being contacted by Bloomberg. Except that a follow-up investigation found internal Slack messages showing the founders had known about this practice since December, a solid seven months earlier, and that the shady feature was responsible for over half of Phia’s June sales Volume. Oops.
Not only is this super shady. It is a criminal offense and could lead to jail time if brought before a judge. Bigger OOPS.
However, since Phoebe Gates is the daughter of billionaire Bill Gates, it probably won’t come to that; the startup has been suspended from several major affiliate platforms.
Interestingly, according to the podcast Corporate Baddies, the company was doing very well without the scam, but, as always, greed took over.
Allbirds Switch From Saving the Planet to Saving its Stock Price
If you need proof that sustainable fashion has fully lost its plot in 2026, look no further than Allbirds. The once-beloved sneaker brand, launched in 2016 as the footwear of the sustainable-tech-bro era, spent the last few years quietly dying, eventually selling off its actual shoes and intellectual property to American Exchange Group for a modest $39 million.
And then, instead of fading away gracefully like its compostable shoes, Allbirds pulled the ultimate 2026 move: it pivoted to AI. Specifically, the company announced a $50 million financing deal to become a “GPU-as-a-Service” AI compute infrastructure provider, rebranding first to NewBird AI and then, two months later, to Smartbird, complete with a brand-new CEO. Investors, apparently unbothered that a sneaker company had no discernible AI infrastructure expertise, sent the stock up more than 580% in a single day.
So there you have it: the sustainable shoe company that once actively worked for a low-carbon future is now trying to shop its way into the AI bubble instead. Not so low carbon anymore, but it feels like a fitting story looking at the way 2026 is going.
Copenhagen Fashion Week’s Sustainability Takes a Hit (Maybe)
And finally, the scandal that hits closest to home for anyone who’s ever held Copenhagen Fashion Week as the gold standard of doing things right (aka me): CPHFW, once crowned “the world’s most sustainable fashion week”, got hit with a formal greenwashing complaint in 2025 (yes, I know, this happened last year, but I still want to mention it).
And finally, the scandal that hits closest to home for anyone who’s ever held Copenhagen Fashion Week as the gold standard of doing things right (aka me): CPHFW, once crowned “the world’s most sustainable fashion week”, got hit with a formal greenwashing complaint in 2025 (yes, I know, this happened last year, but I still want to mention it).
The Danish Consumer Council and anti-greenwashing consultancy Continual accused the event and seven participating Danish brands of leaning on vague, unenforced sustainability requirements while individual brands tossed around words like “sustainable” and “responsible” with little to back it up.
The complaint’s sharpest point: because so many other fashion weeks (London, Berlin, Oslo, Amsterdam) copy-pasted CPHFW’s sustainability framework, a credibility problem in Copenhagen doesn’t just stay in Copenhagen; it spreads across the entire European fashion calendar.
CPHFW’s director denies any wrongdoing, arguing that the requirements were never meant to be a stamp of “this brand is sustainable,” but rather a baseline for participation. And in the end, the Danish Consumer Ombudsman actually agreed there wasn’t enough to pursue legal action, closing the case without penalty.
Technically a win for CPHFW, but the whole ordeal still left its mark, serving as a reminder that “we have a framework” isn’t the same as “we enforce it”.
Well, that’s the recap for now. Enough happened in (not so) sustainable fashion to write another part or five, but let’s save that for another day.
Sources
Everlane’s story
- Everlane sold to SHEIN…is sustainable fashion cooked?
- Shein Finally Confirms Everlane Sale
- Shein’s Everlane Acquisition, Explained
- Shein To Reportedly Acquire Everlane For $100 Million
Phia’s Scandal
- Gates Heir’s Shopping App Claimed Sales It Didn’t Drive
- Corporate Baddies -Phia & Wondermind: Only Scammers in the Building
- Phia’s Cookie-Stuffing Scandal: Is Phoebe Gates’s Startup in Legal Trouble?
Allbirds’ move
- Allbirds continues AI pivot with name change and CEO hire, sending stock soaring
- Allbirds shares soar 580% after pivot from shoes to AI
CPHFW’s Greenwashing
Images link back to their sources, with full credit given to the respective owners.
The header picture is from Canva.
