Shein buys Missguided brand from Mike Ashley firm

Chinese clothing giant Shein is buying the Missguided brand name from Frasers Group little more than a year after the British firm rescued the business.

Frasers announced that it was selling Missguided's intellectual property and trademarks to Shein.

But it is retaining the real estate as well as Missguided's employees, both of which "have now been integrated into Frasers' fashion division".

Shein pledged to use its e-commerce expertise to "reignite" the brand.

Retail analyst Catherine Shuttleworth said Shein would use Missguided to "increase its foothold in the West and drive sales in the UK".

She said Missguided appealed to a targeted market of younger shoppers, which Shein would be looking to tap into.

Frasers bought Missguided out of administration last June for £20m.

Michael Murray, the chief executive of Frasers Group and the son-in-law of the firm's founder Mike Ashley, said the company wanted to rationalise its business to focus on fewer brands. The company did not reveal how much it sold the brand for.

Frasers owns a huge and diverse number of retailers such as Sports Direct, Flannels, Jack Wills, Evans Cycles and sofa.com.

It has also built stakes in the likes of Boohoo, where Frasers Group is the largest shareholder, as well as Asos.

Frasers has other fast-fashion, online brands such as I Saw It First and Missy Empire. Mr Murray said that the company had been in discussions with Shein about potential collaboration across both companies.

What is Shein?

• The global fashion giant was founded in China in 2008, and now has its headquarters in Singapore

• Its sales surged during the Covid pandemic, fuelled by a jump in online shopping. Shein was valued at about $66bn earlier this year, although that was lower than a previous valuation of around $100bn

• According to its website, the company employs nearly 10,000 people worldwide and sells to more than 150 countries

• The firm has attracted controversy. In May, a group of US lawmakers called for Shein to be investigated over claims that people from China's mostly Muslim Uyghur population were used as forced labour to make some of the clothes it sells. In response, Shein told the BBC: "We have zero tolerance for forced labour"

• Low prices have also raised questions about the company's environmental footprint, but Shein says it produces clothes in small batches, which is more efficient and means little goes to waste.

Missguided was founded in 2009 by Cheshire-born Nitin Passi and grew to become one of the UK's biggest online fashion businesses, focusing on younger women.

On its site, Missguided declares that "babe power is at the heart of our brand" and "we believe in championing young talent and real women".

After suffering from supply chain issues, rising freight costs and increasing competition from rivals, Missguided fell into administration in May 2022 before being bought

Commenting on the deal, Shein executive chairman Donald Tang, said: "Shein aims to reignite the Missguided brand, capitalising on its unique brand personality, and fuelling its global growth through Shein's on-demand production model, unparalleled e-commerce expertise and global reach."