San Francisco-based online retail start-up Quince has surpassed $2 billion in total sales and achieved a valuation exceeding $10 billion, but retail analysts, legal challenges, and environmental experts are raising questions over its transparency and eco-friendly claims.
The tech-driven company secured a $500 million funding round earlier this year as investors scrambled for a stake in its direct-to-consumer business model. Quince has built its rapid growth on saturation social media marketing and affordable bestsellers, including its $50 Mongolian cashmere sweater and $100 bamboo sheet set.
According to Quince chief commercial officer Matt Lippert, the retailer aims to create products of equal or higher quality than leading luxury brands at much lower prices. "For decades, consumers have been conditioned to equate higher prices with higher quality," Lippert said in a statement. "The model is simple: Design a different system that eliminates the waste consumers have traditionally paid for in retail."
Founded eight years ago, Quince controls its own product designs and works closely with manufacturers to predict demand and produce goods in tailored batches. Finance expert Matt Twiford told the Daily Mail that this lean supply chain gives the retailer a major competitive edge. "They're logistically similar to AliExpress, Temu or Shein, but with a completely different approach to quality control, curation and branding," Twiford said. He added that procuring supply at the manufacturer level and shipping direct to consumers quickly allows the company plenty of room for further growth.
Legal battles over copycat purses and dupe products
Quince's rapid expansion has also brought legal controversy, including lawsuits from major retail brands. Coach parent company Tapestry previously sued Quince over alleged "copycat" purses. Quince denied the allegations in June 2025 and defended the case through discovery rather than asking for an outright dismissal. The parties ultimately agreed to dismiss the lawsuit in June 2026, with each side bearing its own costs.
In November, premium kitchenware and houseware retailer Williams-Sonoma sued Quince over the sale of "dupe" products, alleging false advertising. According to the complaint, Quince promoted beds, cookware, duvet covers, rugs, and other items that Williams-Sonoma never sold, assuring customers the goods were "like Williams-Sonoma, but half the price" or "Pottery Barn quality for half the price." As of May 2026, Quince asked to pause discovery until a judge decides its motion to dismiss the case, with no further updates as of August 2026.
Questions surrounding sustainability and supply chains
Beyond courtroom disputes, critics and customers have raised broader concerns about Quince's sustainability claims and eco-friendly branding. Dr. Rachel Lamarche-Beauchesne of Torrens University, whose research focuses on fashion consumption, circularity, and animal rights, noted that sustainability is difficult to pinpoint in fashion, but asserted that Quince fails to back up its assertions.
Quince predominantly ships its products from factories in China, Indonesia, and India under the name Last Brand, which was Quince's original name before rebranding in 2020. Lamarche-Beauchesne told the Daily Mail that the company provides very limited information about where its products are manufactured, where its textiles originate, or the specific environmental and social standards applied throughout its supply chain.
Lamarche-Beauchesne added that Quince leans heavily on "romanticized" statements about partnering with suppliers that share its vision for sustainability, accountability, and transparency. "While these statements sound positive, they provide no measurable information and make it difficult to evaluate the company's environmental and ethical performance," she said. For instance, on its website's "Sustainability" page, Quince states it uses sustainably produced materials "when possible," but does not specify the exact proportion of products that meet this standard or what the standard actually is.
Site-wide transparency has also drawn frustration from buyers regarding product reviews. Some customers reported that three-star and four-star reviews failed to appear online, with one Reddit user writing, "I have submitted some three and four star reviews and they never showed up. Something is going on with the reviews that they are almost always glowing." Another user noted it is "very hard to get honest reviews for Quince, even just photos of the bedding seems impossible if it's not directly from the website." According to its review policy, Quince only publishes reviews from verified sales and reserves the right to decline or delete posts that violate its guidelines.
Factory claims, stock photos, and labor ratings
On its "Our Factories" web page, Quince states: "We revised every part of a traditional retailer's playbook. We cut out all the middlemen and managed every element of the item's creation ourselves, including packaging and transportation." The company also asserts that it partners only with "factories that pay fair wages to their workers and produce goods in a sustainable manner," adding that many of its factories participate in local corporate social responsibility initiatives. However, instead of providing actual photos of its global network of factories, the site uses royalty-free stock images from Pexels, such as a picture of a person cutting denim with scissors.
Quince also fails to specify what exact wage it considers fair. Eco-Stylist, an independent rating organization for sustainable fashion brands, gave Quince a zero out of 33 in its labor category, citing a lack of accessible information on wages, working conditions, or ethical labor certifications. Eco-Stylist founder Garik Himebaugh told the Daily Mail that well-known US ethical shopping publications, such as The Good Trade, have published positive reviews repeating Quince's claims, though he questioned whether they received actual factory lists to verify them. The Daily Mail has reached out to The Good Trade for comment.
"Quince's marketing is good, and if you evaluate brands by feel, it passes. That's the whole problem," Himebaugh said, adding that Eco-Stylist scores brands against fixed criteria. "A brand can't talk its way to points it hasn't earned. Quince's zeros aren't a judgment call - they're what happens when there's nothing to score."
Scientific evaluation of materials and packaging
Environmentalist Dr. Chris DeArmitt, president of the non-profit Plastic Research Council, also questioned whether Quince's sustainability claims are supported by scientific data. "When it comes to the environment, it is easy to make bold claims and profit from them but much harder to really deliver true benefits backed by data," DeArmitt told the Daily Mail.
Quince advertises that it uses eco-friendly dyes and materials "whenever possible," including organic cotton, organic linen, alpaca wool, cashmere, and 100 percent recycled polyester. However, DeArmitt said the retailer provides no evidence that these material choices reduce its overall environmental footprint. He also questioned Quince's use of "compostable poly bags," citing roughly 30 life-cycle studies, including one from Columbia University, which found conventional polyethylene bags actually had the lowest environmental impact among options assessed.
Regarding Quince's use of recycled plastic mailers, DeArmitt explained that while they could have a lower impact than virgin plastic mailers, any actual benefit depends on post-consumer handling and transportation distances. "You can't simply assume that something labelled compostable or recycled is automatically better for the environment," he said, adding that natural fibers like cotton are not always greener than synthetics like polyester, which is generally stronger, more durable, and requires less raw material. "I prefer cashmere, alpaca and cotton over polyester," DeArmitt joked, "but as a scientist, I choose them with a guilty conscience knowing that they vastly increase impact and depletion of my bank account."
Quince continues to market its low prices for premium items like Italian leather, organic cotton, and Mongolian cashmere. For example, its classic organic Turkish cotton bath towel set sells for $50, compared to $119 for Brooklinen's super-plush Turkish cotton bath towel set. Quince also sells a washable stretch silk high neck midi dress for $149 with over 500 reviews.
For Nicole Klementowicz, founder and fashion stylist for The Refresh Atelier, the price difference makes Quince attractive to budget-conscious shoppers. "I get a 100 percent Mongolian cashmere sweater for $50 on Quince versus over $150+ from similar retailers like Jenni Kanye, J Crew and Artizia," Klementowicz told the Daily Mail. "Luxury fashion isn't going anywhere though. Shoppers still want the best fashion has to offer, they are just making smarter budgeting choices and finding more economical ways to get those pieces into their closets."
As of August 4, Quince has generated over $2 billion in total sales. The Daily Mail has reached out to Quince for comment on the criticisms.
