Retail
Joint venture between Simon Property Group, a retail real estate company and Authentic Brands Group, a brand development company. SPARC stands for Simon Property Authentic Retail Concepts. In 2023 Chinese fast fashion company Shein bought a 33% stake.
Company Ownership
SPARC Group LLC
USA
Authentic Brands Group LLC
owns 33% of SPARC Group LLC
USA
Brand development and licensing
Purchases brands in the sports, celebrity and fashion categories and licenses the intellectual property to leading retailers, wholesalers, and manufacturers worldwide. Acquired Juicy Couture in 2013, Tretorn in 2015 and Nautica and Nine West in 2018. Bought Van Heusen, Arrow and Izod from PVH, and Reebok from Adidas in 2021. Acquired Ted Baker in 2022, Boardriders and Rockport in 2023, and Sperry and Champion in 2024. Private equity firms BlackRock, CVC and HPS own significant stakes.
BlackRock Inc
owns 30% of Authentic Brands Group LLC
USA
Asset management
World's largest asset manager, with about $7 trillion in assets under management.
Simon Property Group Inc
owns 33% of SPARC Group LLC
USA
Real estate investment trust
The largest owner of shopping malls in the United States.
Zoetop Business Co Ltd
owns 33% of SPARC Group LLC
SGP
Fast fashion
Founded in China in 2008 by Chris Xu, Shein has quickly become the world's largest fashion retailer, surpassing H&M and Zara. The company has no physical stores and exists almost entirely on social media. While production is still primarily in China, Shein moved its headquarters to Singapore in 2022 in an attempt to distance itself from China. Ships to 220 countries. In 2023 Shein bought the Missguided brand from Frasers Group, and acquired 33% of Forever 21 parent company SPARC.
Company Assessment
(Last updated Aug 2024)
Praise
Criticism
Information
SPARC Group LLC
Praise
Criticism
Information
100% on Corporate Equality Index
This company is listed as having best practice on a report card on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality in corporate America.
Source: Human Rights Campaign
(2021)
Forced labour in China
The Chinese government has facilitated the mass transfer of Uyghur and other ethnic minority citizens from the far west region of Xinjiang to factories across the country. Under conditions that strongly suggest forced labour, Uyghurs are working in factories that are in the supply chains of international brands. The 2021 Laundering Cotton report investigates how forced-labour-produced cotton and cotton-based goods from the Uyghur Region wend their way into international supply chains of well-known international clothing brands, including brands owned by this company.
Joint Venture between three companies, all of which have criticisms
SPARC Group is a joint venture between Authentic Brands Group, Simon Property Group and Shein, all of which have criticisms in the Shop Ethical database.
Source: Shop Ethical
(2023)
Corporate responsibility claims
This company has Corporate Responsibility claims on its website.
Source: company website
(2021)
BHRRC company profile
Business & Human Rights Resource Centre digital platform presents news and allegations relating to the human rights impact of over 20,000 companies. Their enhanced Company Dashboards also include financial information, key data points based on corporate policies, and scores from prominent civil society benchmarks. Follow the link and use the search function to view this company's dashboard.
Source: BHRRC
(2022)
Authentic Brands Group LLC
Praise
Criticism
Information
0/100 in What Fuels Fashion?
What Fuels Fashion? is a single-issue, special edition of the Fashion Transparency Index. The 2024 report ranked 250 of the world's largest fashion brands and retailers according to their level of disclosure on climate and energy-related data in their own operations and supply chains. Brands owned by this company scored 0%. The average score was 18% and the highest score was 75%.
Source: Fashion Revolution
(2024)
Forced labour in China
The Chinese government has facilitated the mass transfer of Uyghur and other ethnic minority citizens from the far west region of Xinjiang to factories across the country. Under conditions that strongly suggest forced labour, Uyghurs are working in factories that are in the supply chains of international brands, including brands owned by this company.
Source: ITUC
(2020)
Part owned by BlackRock, which has criticisms
In 2019 US private equity giant BlackRock bought roughly a 30% stake in this company. BlackRock has several criticisms and an overall Shop Ethical rating of 'F'.
Source: Shop Ethical
(2019)
Company Details
Type:
Joint venture
Revenue:
7.2 billion USD
(2020)
Employees:
26,500
(2020)
Subsidiaries:
Eddie Bauer LLC
Clothing retail
Acquired in 2021 by SPARC Group, a joint venture between Simon Property Group and Authentic Brands Group.
Forever 21 Inc
Youth fashion
Founded in California in 1984 by CEO Don Chang and his wife. About 60% of its apparel is manufactured in China. Operates about 500 retail stores around the world. Filed for bankruptcy in 2019 and acquired by Authentic Brands Group, Simon Property Group and Brookfield Property Partners in 2020. Forever 21 entered Australia in 2014, but left in 2017.
Contact Details
Products / Brands
SPARC / True Alliance (distributor)
Brooks Brothers
Menswear (formal)
Nautica
Outdoor Wear
Lucky Brand
Denim
Eddie Bauer
Outdoor Wear
Forever 21
Youth Fashion