Forever 21

in Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania, October 2020 in Denver during liquidation in November 2019 , August 2012 , March 2014 in the Philippines, December 2024 1984–2017: founding and expansion Originally known as Fashion 21, the store was founded in Los Angeles on April 16, 1984, by Do Won Chang and Jin Sook Chang, married immigrants from South Korea. The original store Sales were high enough in the first decade that the company added new stores on an average of every six months, largely in malls. That year the company was involved in a number of controversies. The Center for Environmental Health found that 26 retailers and suppliers, including Forever 21, had been selling jewelry containing cadmium, a toxic metal. Also in 2011, several Forever 21 women's shirts were criticized by online users for seeming anti-education and sexist, including one that said "Allergic to Algebra", another that said "Skool sucks", and a third that had "I heart school" on the front and "not ..." on the back. In April 2010, Rachel Kane, a writer and Forever 21 customer created a blog with the domain name WTForever21.com. Kane posted pictures of some Forever 21 items and voiced her opinions about the clothing. According to media reports, to meet the $15,000 threshold in damages for the lawsuit to move forward, the case needed 750,000 other customers to sue as well. By 2013, there were more than 480 stores and revenue of $3.7 billion. Between 2005 and 2015, international stores jumped from seven to 262. and Esther Chang as vice president of merchandising, Continuing to expand internationally, as of 2016, it had 31 locations in Brazil, although it had recently pulled out of Spain and Belgium. In 2017, revenue was $3.4 billion, a significant drop from the year prior. 2018–2019: competition and bankruptcy Facing competition from other fast fashion brands, Thailand in June 2018, and Ireland in late 2018. Forever 21 then pulled out of Taiwan on March 31, 2019. In July 2019, the company was accused of fat shaming when they included weight-loss bars with orders containing plus-sized clothing. Forever 21 apologized, stating the bars were an "oversight." The global explosion in fast fashion competitors, reputation damage (caused by both labor rights groups and environmentalists), high cost rental locations, and competition from online retail led to a temporary collapse in global operations. In 2019, the company experienced a 32% drop in global sales. Wrote Women's Wear Daily about the bankruptcy, "the company over expanded with too many stores that were too big, and lacked sufficient e-commerce business." On September 29, 2019, Forever 21 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. To downsize, the company announced that it was ceasing operations in 40 countries particularly those in Asia and Europe, and to add focus to the profitable core part of its operations in the U.S. and Latin America, Portugal, Japan, and Canada, and closed its website and physical stores in England. 2020–2025: SPARC ownership By January 2020, the company had cut 350 of its 815 international stores under president Alex Ok. That month, Forever 21 relaunched its online store in 30 countries through the e-commerce company Global-e, targeting consumers in Canada, Asia Pacific, and Latin America. On February 2, 2020, it was announced that Forever 21 had reached a deal to sell all of its assets for $81 million to Simon Property Group, Brookfield Properties, and brand management firm Authentic Brands Group (ABG). ABG and Simon each acquired 37.5% of the company's intellectual property and operating businesses, while Brookfield acquired 25%. SPARC, a joint venture between Simon Property Group and Authentic Brands Group, took over Forever 21's management after the sale and appointed Daniel Kulle as Forever 21's new CEO. and immediately began expanding Forever 21 in Latin America via licensing deals. ABG appointed IB Group as Forever 21's licensee in Mexico in June 2020. That month, it also re-entered the UK and EU markets, opening online stores for British customers. South Africa and Lebanon. In May 2021, Brookfield Property Partners sold its stake in Forever 21 for $63 million. After YM Inc. became the Canadian licensee for Forever 21 in June 2021, Hudson's Bay announced a partnership with Forever 21 in Canada. It had 540 locations by December 2021 and, that month, partnered on product lines with JCPenney, which is also owned by Authentic Brands Group. In December 2021, Forever 21 announced that it had hired Virtual Brand Group to create a metaverse game for the company that allowed players to operate custom fashion stores. Winnie Park was appointed Forever 21's chief executive officer in January 2022. ABG sued Bolt Financial in New York for failure to "deliver promised technology", stating that Forever 21 had lost $150 million in online sales due to a botched rollout of a new e-commerce platform in 2021. Sports Illustrated, and Barbie. That summer, the company opened a new flagship store in India licensed by Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail. In June 2022, Poetic Brands was granted licensee rights to manufacture, market, and distribute the brand in the United Kingdom and Europe. In February 2025, it was reported that Forever 21 was working with restructuring firm BRG to evaluate a range of possible options for the company including selling off profitable leases in order to stave off a second bankruptcy filing. Later that month, it was reported that Forever 21 would be closing 215 underperforming locations, with most stores to close by April. The company stated that these locations had not been making money for years. On March 3, 2025, Forever 21 laid off 700 employees in California and Pennsylvania, and announced the closure of its headquarters in Los Angeles. The company also warned that it was preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as soon as the following week after continuous struggles to find a buyer for its stores. On March 17, 2025, Forever 21, for the second time in nearly six years, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware, listing liabilities between $1 billion and $5 billion, and assets between $100 million and $500 million, blaming decreasing mall traffic and competitors such as Temu and Shein as factors contributing to the filing. Forever 21 conducted liquidation sales at all of its US stores that same day, noting that it was unable to find a buyer, leading to the company's 350 remaining locations in the US being permanently closed. Its international operations, as well as its IP and trademark, are unaffected by the filing, the latter of which is currently owned by Authentic Brands Group. By May 1, 2025, Forever 21 permanently closed all of its US locations. In September 2025, it was announced that Forever21 would relaunch as an online retailer. Unique Brands (who also own the now digital-only department store Bon-Ton) will run the US e-commerce platform and men's wholesale, Mark Edwards Apparel will run women's wholesale and Kidz Concepts will oversee children's wear. No American stores will open under the new plans. ==Employee relations and safety==

In September 2001, the Asian Pacific American Legal Center and the Garment Worker Center, workers’ advocacy groups, filed a lawsuit against Forever 21, charging them of violating labor practice laws. They claimed that 19 contracted employees received less than the minimum wage, that the hours on time cards were reduced, that workers who complained to the state were fired, and that the employees faced sweatshop-like working conditions. Forever 21 denied the accusations, asserting its commitment to fair labor practices and that "none of the workers named in the suit were directly employed by the company". asserting that its reputation and sales were both impacted by the allegations and protests. Five Forever 21 employees filed a class-action lawsuit in January 2012, alleging that they had not been paid for bag checks and extra work during lunch breaks and the time spent on bag checks. After the Labor Department found that some of Forever 21's suppliers had violated various federal laws on wages and record-keeping, a subpoena was ordered in August 2012. U.S. District Court Judge Margaret Morrow ordered Forever 21's compliance after the retailer failed to provide the documents. The retailer claimed that it tried to meet with the Labor Department and that it had provided the requested information. ==Licensing disputes==

The company has faced a number of intellectual property lawsuits for its designs. In response, in 2007, Forever 21 described its design process as proprietary, noting it employed no designers, only "very savvy designer merchants" who were not disclosed, and that it worked with "many" suppliers and did not always know where those suppliers' ideas originated. Forever 21 is known for completely changing merchandise every six to eight weeks to account for new fashion trends. The New York Times noted in 2007 that "while it takes a designer like Marc Jacobs or Michael Kors several months to get clothes into stores after their debut on the runways, Forever 21 delivers interpretations of the same looks within six weeks." Critics such as Susan Scafidi, an expert in copyright law in 2011, question Forever 21's design process and argue that it is replicating the designs of others. CEO Chang said that some of their merchants had disappointed him after he had "overly trusted people" on their designs. In 2007, Forever 21 was "permanently enjoined from duplicating DVF designs". As of 2011, Forever 21 had never been found guilty and the majority of cases had been resolved through settlements. On 28 January 2015, the software developers Adobe, Autodesk and Corel filed a joint lawsuit against Forever 21 for allegedly using unlicensed copies of Photoshop, AutoCAD and PaintShop Pro, respectively. Asking for a jury trial, Forever 21 denied the allegations, accusing Adobe of bullying over online licensing fees, and asserting an "implied" license, as the software came bundled with other products. The case was settled in March 2016. In September 2019, American singer Ariana Grande accused and sued Forever 21 for $10 million for copying her style and likeness by dressing up their models the same way in their photo-shoot from her music video of "7 Rings". ==Stores==

The brand operated stores in multiple countries. including, as of July 2022, 407 U.S. stores in 43 states, with the highest densities in California, Texas, Florida, New York, Georgia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Illinois. The original store in Los Angeles remained in operation until 2020, bearing the chain's original name. Outside of the United States, most of its stores are franchised or, in some markets, operated as joint ventures with local partners. The average store size was . ==References==