Shein's IPO pitch lands at a fraction of its former valuation

Shein is being pitched to prospective investors at a valuation below $30 billion, according to the Financial Times, marking a decline of roughly 70% from where the company stood four years ago. The retreat reflects a sharp reassessment of the ultra-fast-fashion model that once made Shein one of the most richly valued private companies in the world, prized for its ability to turn design trends into shippable garments within days and to undercut rivals on price at global scale.

The drop in valuation says as much about the regulatory and political climate as it does about Shein's own trading performance. The company has spent recent years fending off scrutiny over labour practices, product safety and its use of low-value customs exemptions to ship goods duty-free into major markets including the United States and the European Union. Tightening rules on de minimis import thresholds and mounting pressure from rivals such as Temu have squeezed the economics that once made Shein's model so disruptive to conventional retail.

For the luxury sector, Shein's travails are a useful data point rather than a direct threat: its customer base and price points sit at the opposite end of the market. But the valuation collapse is a reminder that scale and growth alone no longer command premium multiples from public market investors, who are applying far more scepticism to consumer businesses with murky supply chains or regulatory overhangs. Any London listing, if it proceeds at this reduced valuation, will be watched closely as a bellwether for how public markets are now pricing fashion and retail businesses that grew explosively on the back of low-cost, high-volume models.

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