Think of it as the first day of the rest of Shein’s life.
The ultra-fast-fashion giant went public in Hong Kong on Tuesday — and while its shares fell as much as 10 percent in their debut, they rebounded to close down just 0.1 percent at 48.50 Hong Kong dollars.
At current exchange, that left Shein with a stock market valuation of $26.3 billion — not the $100 billion that was once envisioned for the company, but enough to make it a real player in the global market for fashion stocks.
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Most fashion players struggle to break the $10 billion mark and enter the territory of established giants like off-pricer TJX Cos. Inc. ($146.7 billion) or companies leaning into a big growth curve like Tapestry Inc. ($24.4 billion).
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Shein managed to just nudge out its cheap-chic rival H&M, which trades in Stockholm and, at current exchange, has a market capitalization of $25.4 billion.
That puts the newcomer just ahead of one of the fast-fashion OGs, although a pioneer in the space that’s still working to get back into fighting shape. Proof that more can be done with the fast-fashion model is in the market capitalization of Zara-parent Inditex, which totals $207.7 billion.
A WWD study of the market capitalization of 12 fashion-focused companies around the world showed the importance of being either at the high-end of the market, like LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton ($295 billion), or the low end, like off-pricer Ross Stores Inc. ($73.4 billion).
While fashion has its share of brands in the middle of the market, there seems to be very little middle ground.