Fast style retailers Shein and Forever 21 are going into enterprise collectively.

Under a partnership settlement introduced on Thursday, the Chinese-founded Shein will purchase about one-third curiosity in Sparc Group, Forever 21’s operator. Sparc may even change into a minority shareholder in Shein.

The deal is predicted to increase Forever 21’s distribution on Shein’s world e-commerce platform, which has attracted 150 million on-line customers. In flip, the partnership “also offers the opportunity to test” Shein product gross sales and returns in bodily Forever 21 shops throughout the US, the businesses stated in a joint launch.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the deal between Shein and Sparc on Thursday.

Sparc is a three way partnership that features model improvement firm Authentic Brands Group and buying centre operator Simon Property Group. Beyond the US-based Forever 21 — which was purchased out of chapter simply three years in the past — Sparc additionally manufactures and distributes clothes for manufacturers like Aeropostale, Eddie Bauer and Reebook.

Shein and Forever 21 have each confronted sturdy criticism across the environmental impression of their quick style manufacturing and allegations of unethical labour practices. Earlier this yr, Shein was notably accused of copyright infringement. There has additionally been ongoing issues amongst some politicians and advocacy teams about its provide chains.

In May, a bipartisan group of two dozen politicians requested the US Securities and Exchange Commission to place the brakes on an preliminary public providing by Shein till it verified that it doesn’t use pressured labour from the nation’s predominantly Muslim Uyghur inhabitants. A June Congressional report additionally unloaded a blistering critique of Shein and one other Chinese style retailer, Temu.

The report is a part of an ongoing Congressional investigation into merchandise provided to American customers that might be made with pressured labour in China. As a part of the probe, the committee despatched letters in early May to manufacturers Nike and Adidas, in addition to Shein and Temu asking for details about their compliance with the anti-forced labour regulation.

At the time, Shein stated that the corporate’s “policy is to comply with the customs and import laws of the countries in which we operate”. It additionally stated it has “zero tolerance” for pressured labour and has applied a strong system to make sure compliance with US regulation.

Shein, which is now headquarted in Singapore, has tried to distance itself from China lately. According to The Journal, Shein doesn’t promote items in China and denies sourcing cotton from the nation.