Recommended: Listen to this story (05:52 - 11:22):

The Story: The once third largest startup in the world, Shein, an online fast fashion retailer, is eyeing an IPO. But will the public market be hospitable to the company?

Shein wants to target an IPO that would value it at as much as $90 billion dollars. This is a very lofty goal as the company is currently valued at a significantly lower figure of between $50-60 billion dollars in private trades, at least according to Bloomberg sources familiar with the matter.

A year ago, Shein’s private funding valued the company at $100 billion. Back in May, when Shein raised a new round of private funding, its valuation plunged to $66 billion.

While a decrease in value like this in 2023 is not uncommon, and doesn’t necessarily reflect the company’s actual value, Bloomberg News believes “the gap underlines investor concerns over Shein’s challenges ranging from intensifying competition to allegations of copyright thefts and potential use of forced labor. It may also complicate Shein’s ambitions for a blockbuster listing.”

A timetable for Shein to publicly list is still uncertain due to market volatility. But, if the fast fashion retailer does decide to IPO soon, and gets a positive response from the public market, it’s possible it could be the catalyst needed to unfreeze the ice-cold IPO landscape.

Expert Take: Isabelle Freidheim, founder and managing partner of Athena, isn’t convinced Shein is ready for an IPO:

According to Freidheim, those issues include “tax issues, filing issues, forced child-labor issues, and a number of problems.” She continues, “Combine the existing issues that the company has with the state of the market, and it makes for a precarious value proposition.”

*Stay informed about the three biggest stories in venture capital and tech news every weekday morning. 2-min reads only.