Everlane is a brand from USA, one of the first sustainable brands that I explored when I started building Only Ethikal. I was very curious how they were far ahead in ensuring almost all boxes of sustainability with radical transparency even when most of us in UAE did not know the difference between fast and slow fashion.

I have been a customer of Everlane for years now. There is a trust in the brand that I have in the brand – for its quality, service and most importantly the transparency it has.

Last month it was reported that Everlane was bought by Shein and this was not happy news for me. I thought they had everything figured out - great brand, good products and a growing market all over the world – so why did this happen?

It is reported that Everlane was in debt, and the takeover could help settle the debt. This is the reality of every business; you can have a great business – but if the cashflow is drained – then you are forced to make hard choices. I somehow get the reasons for the sale, because this is a constant issue for us as well.

We are in a market that is much smaller in size, scalability comes at a cost of heavy spend on awareness, competition and production.

This seemed like an act of survival, now I am curious what will happen to Everlane as a brand in the hands of a fast fashion brand. Will it change its mission or will it become another brand in the market selling labels instead of fashion – wait and watch!