Reformation, a Los Angeles sustainable fashion company, is planning to go public as early as this summer, according to the Wall Street Journal. The company, owned mostly by a private equity firm called Permira, had sales of over $300 million by May 2023, per Bloomberg.

Permira bought a majority stake in Reformation in 2020. The bet was simple: a fashion brand focused on sustainability and selling mainly online could grow much bigger than it was. An IPO would let Permira sell some of its ownership and recoup its investment.

Why now? The market for new stock offerings is friendlier in mid-2026 than it was a few years ago when interest rates were rising and investors were cautious about buying new shares. A summer listing also hits a quieter time on Wall Street, when big investors have more time to look at new companies.

Here's what matters for ordinary people: Reformation built its brand on two ideas — making clothes more sustainably and offering a wider range of sizes. Its customers tend to be younger, wealthier millennials and Gen Z shoppers. If the economy slows and people start spending less on premium clothing, Reformation could face pressure. For underwriters trying to price the stock, that's a real challenge — there aren't many other purely sustainable fashion brands trading on the public markets, so there's no clear template for what the right price should be.

When Reformation's official document for the IPO comes out, investors will get to see how much money the company actually made in the last 12 months. That number — whether revenue is growing fast, whether profit margins are healthy — will decide whether the stock is priced like a high-growth business or something more mature. Right now, the $300 million figure from May 2023 is all anyone has.

One detail worth flagging: Permira probably won't sell all its shares at once. That means Permira will likely keep ownership stakes and sell them gradually over time. Investors know this happens with private equity deals, and it can actually weigh on the stock price in the short term — not because anything's wrong with the business, but because a big shareholder selling shares increases supply in the market, which can depress price.

Here's the real tension for Reformation. When a company is small and independent, it can tell a pure story about sustainability. Once it scales up — more products, more stores, more factories — keeping that sustainability promise becomes harder. Reformation managed that balance as a private company. Doing it while reporting earnings every quarter to thousands of shareholders is tougher.

What happens with this IPO will matter beyond just Reformation. Several other fashion and retail companies are waiting to go public later this year, and they're all watching. If Reformation prices well and the stock holds its value in the first few weeks, those other companies might feel confident going public too. If it stumbles, they'll stay private longer. The bankers managing this IPO know they're not just selling one company — they're writing the rules for how the market will value sustainable-fashion stocks.