Fast-fashion company Shein is considering the possibility of switching its initial public offering to London from New York because of hurdles to the listing in the US, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Shein, which was founded in China but is now headquartered in Singapore, is in the early stages of exploring the London option as it has judged it unlikely that the US Securities and Exchange Commission will approve its IPO, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information.

Shein is still working on its application to list in the US as its preferred location, the people said. It would need to file a new overseas listing application with Chinese regulators if it decided to switch to London or elsewhere, they added. Other venues including Hong Kong or Singapore may also be considered, two of the people said.

A representative for Shein declined to comment.

A listing in London would be a potential boon to the beleaguered market, after one of the worst years for IPOs in its modern history. Just about $1 billion was raised in the UK via IPOs last year, the lowest level in decades, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The UK is also struggling to stem an exodus of firms to the US and elsewhere. Chip designer Arm Holdings Plc spurned London for a New York IPO last year even after the UK government lobbied for a domestic listing by the Cambridge, England-based company. Already-listed companies are migrating abroad, with TUI AG shareholders voting earlier this month to delist from the London Stock Exchange and move trading primarily to Germany.

Small and Rare

US IPOs by Chinese companies have mostly been small and rare in the years since Didi Global Inc. was forced off the boards in New York, part of a crackdown that essentially closed the market to first-time share sales by Chinese firms. Amer Sports Inc.’s $1.6 billion offering in February was the biggest China-backed IPO to tap the US market since Didi raised $4.4 billion in 2021, and the first to raise more than $200 million in that time.

Read More: Largest Chinese US IPO Since Didi Comes Below Range

Shein has been subject to scrutiny from the US, with Senator Marco Rubio among those asking the SEC to block its listing, saying the company needs to disclose more about its operations in China. Last year, a member of the US Congress asked for a probe into Shein’s cotton supply from Xinjiang. US-China trade tensions have also been simmering for years.

A pioneer of ultra-fast fashion with items such as shirts and swimsuits for as little as $2, Shein filed last year for a US IPO aiming for a valuation of $80 billion to $90 billion, people familiar with the matter said at the time. Private trades in late 2023 valued the company much lower, at about $50 billion.

By Dong Cao, Vinicy Chan, and Pei Li with assistance from Daniela Wei

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Moncler’s chief executive and main shareholder will be left with roughly 16 percent of the luxury group once the Rivetti family exits the holding company in a move making the company more accessible for potential bidders, analysts said.

Moncler said on Saturday the Rivetti family will become a direct shareholder in the luxury group after ending an investment agreement with CEO Remo Ruffini’s holding company Double R.

The Rivetti family, which got Double R’s shares as a result of Moncler’s acquisition of Stone Island some three years ago, currently holds a 16.5 percent stake in Double R, which in turn has a 23.7 percent stake in Moncler.

Similary, Singapore state investor Temasek said last month it would exit Double R and become a direct shareholder in the luxury group.

Temasek and Rivetti’s family, through their financial vehicles, will have a direct stake of around 4 percent each in Moncler, a company with a market valuation of around 17.6 billion euros ($19.1 billion).

The exits open up “overhang risks on both stakes,” Intesa Sanpaolo analysts said.

Moncler shares were down 2.4 percent around 10:35 GMT, in a luxury sector that was mostly negative.

“On the positive side we point out that the evolution of Moncler’s shareholders structure is increasing the group’s contestability,” the analysts added.

The Rivetti family said on Saturday it signed a three-year consultation agreement with Ruffini, which does not limit shares transfer.

Carlo Rivetti will remain a Moncler board member and chairman of Stone Island.

By Elisa Anzolin; Editing by Keith Weir

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The Sustainable Apparel Coalition is rebranding as Cascale, distancing the organisation from a greenwashing scandal focused on its Higg sustainability tools and indicating ambitions to expand beyond fashion.

The organisation, which counts as one of the industry’s most powerful and influential sustainability focused trade groups, has been working to move beyond criticism that its data on the environmental impact of materials is not robust enough to back up consumer-facing marketing claims. Its rebrand comes a little under a year after Higg Inc., a for-profit sustainability analytics platform originally spun out of the SAC, changed its name to Worldly.

But the SAC said the move is really designed to reflect the fact that it no longer only serves the apparel sector. Some 10 percent of its members operate in adjacent sectors, including home furnishings, sporting and outdoor goods and bags and luggage.

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After the Sustainable Apparel Coalition’s Higg Index became a central focus for greenwashing allegations, the trade group commissioned an independent review. Its recommendations include scrapping a stand-alone materials assessment and more work to improve the data.

The British high street fashion chain Next is in talks to acquire The Body Shop, according to a Sky News report on Saturday.

Per the report, Next has been closely following The Body Shop, and has now contacted FRP Advisory, the administrators handling the company’s bankruptcy proceedings and expressed an interest in acquiring parts of the distressed chain.

Despite being better known for affordable fashion, homewares and school clothes, Next has also become a prolific acquirer of embattled retail businesses. Run by Lord Wolfson, in recent years, it has snapped up the likes of Fat Face and Joules after they entered insolvency proceedings, and it has also struck deals with bigger US brands such as Victoria’s Secret and Gap.

Any sale, however, would not include The Body Shop’s most recognisable assets. Its brand and intellectual property are not part of the administration process, as Aurelius Group, which has owned The Body Shop since Jan. 1 2024, has secured its stock and other major assets. FRP has already announced the closure of almost half of its 198 UK stores.

The Body Shop was once a radical disruptor in the beauty industry, as a founder-led brand with strong ethical claims and whimsical, playful products. Despite the body care segment’s growth in popularity, the brand failed to modernise its core proposition as competition increased.

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Sephora is bringing BIPOC founders together for its first Impact Summit.

On Feb. 26 and 27, the beauty retailer is hosting a new event for its BIPOC beauty community. Open to BIPOC founders of brands stocked at Sephora, current and former members of the Sephora Accelerate incubation program, members of the Sephora Squad influencer collective, merchant sponsors, advisors and executives, the Impact Summit is meant to delve deeper into Sephora’s diversity, equity and inclusion work. 15 Percent Pledge founder and fashion designer Aurora James will give the keynote address.

Since joining James’ 15 Percent Pledge in 2020, Sephora has now reached 15 percent Black-owned brands in the hair care category and doubled its number of Black-owned brands in other categories last year, said Priya Venkatesh, global chief merchandising officer at Sephora.

”We extended the invite to all of our BIPOC brands to attend – big, small and medium. It’s just a great place for the founders to meet, connect, learn, and when that happens, you can’t ever predict what comes out of it,” said  Venkatesh.

In addition to James, other speakers include Danessa Myricks, founder of her namesake line, Tower 28 founder Amy Liu, Kulfi Beauty founder Priyanka Ganjoo and Alisa Carmichael, partner at VMG.

Members of this year’s eight-brand Accelerate cohort include Maed Beauty founder Denise Vasi and Sienna Naturals co-founders Hannah Diop and Issa Rae, the star of HBO’s Insecure. Sephora now stocks 11 brands from previous years of the Accelerate program, including Topicals, which has “grow very impressively,” said Venkatesh.

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The nonprofit founded by Aurora James is expanding its largest fundraising event as it aims to double down in a challenging climate for diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Rowing Blazers, the New York brand known for preppy streetwear and colourful rugby shirts, has sold a majority stake to fashion investment firm Burch Creative Capital, BoF has learned.

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Burch Creative Capital will acquire most of the shares owned by private equity firm KarpReilly, which purchased a minority stake in Rowing Blazers in 2021, as well as that of seed investors. Rowing Blazers founders Jack Carlson and David Rosenzweig will retain some stake in the business going forward, according to Carlson.

The transaction will inject fresh capital into Rowing Blazers’ operations, allowing the brand to open a bigger flagship store in New York, as well as build out its women’s line, pursue wholesale opportunities, revamp the e-commerce site and potentially improve supply chain capabilities.

“Production, dealing with factories, making sure we’re getting the right margins, and also making sure quality is top, top tier — all of that is perfectly within [BCC’s] wheelhouse,” said Carlson, who launched the brand in 2017.

He will remain at the company as creative director. Rosenzweig will continue to serve as director of strategy, focusing on the brand’s collaborations and partnerships. Aimé Leon Dore chief financial officer Grant Simm, meanwhile, has been tapped to serve the same role at Rowing Blazers.

According to Carlson, he sought out an operational partner like Burch Creative Capital, which has invested in and advised for Tory Burch — Chris Burch was married to the namesake designer — and Staud, in order to take a backseat on the operational components of the business and focus on the creative side of the brand.

“The biggest thing was wanting a partner who was an operator, wanting a partner interested in taking a majority stake, and a partner that would enable me to focus on the creative, which is the part that I really enjoy,” Carlson told BoF.

As part of the deal, Burch Creative Capital will also acquire Blazer Group, a portfolio of licensed brands that Carlson launched last year. The group includes British knitwear brand Gyles & George, a Manhattan tailor called Chipp, and Warm & Wonderful, the knit label responsible for Princess Diana’s iconic red-and-white sheep sweater, which Rowing Blazers reproduced in 2020 and has become one of its highest-grossing styles.

“Jack [Carlson] has created an extraordinary brand that is reminiscent of my first apparel business, Eagle’s Eye,” Chris Burch said in a statement. “With our expertise and a team of amazing humans, I am certain we can turn this into a global brand.

Looking ahead, the brand’s biggest opportunity to scale is womenswear, Carlson said — something that Burch Creative Capital has a lot of expertise in and a category that performed especially well as part of Rowing Blazer’s collaboration with Target last year.

The new capital will also immediately aid the brand’s flagship move, from Rivington Street in New York City’s Lower East Side neighborhood to a bigger space somewhere in downtown Manhattan.

“I don’t want to focus too much on where the finish line is, but I do want to focus on this next step with BCC and to me, I just want to see the brand reach more people,” Carlson said.