Walk into any mall in the mid-2000s and you couldn't miss it. The bright yellow bags, the $15 jeans, and that neon sign that seemed to promise you’d be young—and trendy—forever. But if you’ve noticed the stores disappearing or the vibe shifting lately, you aren't alone. The question of who are the owners of Forever 21 has become a bit of a corporate soap opera, especially since the brand basically fell off a cliff a few years back.
Honestly, the story of who actually calls the shots now is way more complicated than just one person sitting in an office. It involves a massive "brand graveyard" company, the biggest mall owners in America, and even a weird partnership with their biggest rival, Shein.
From the American Dream to Corporate Liquidation
To understand who owns the brand today, you have to look at the wreck it left behind. Forever 21 used to be a family empire. Do Won Chang and Jin Sook Chang, South Korean immigrants who moved to California in the 80s, started with one tiny shop called Fashion 21. By 2015, they were billionaires.
They ran the company like a private fiefdom. Their daughters, Linda and Esther, were high-level executives. The family was famous for printing John 3:16 on the bottom of their bags. But they also got famous for something else: opening massive, 100,000-square-foot stores they couldn't afford to keep stocked.
When the 2019 bankruptcy hit, the Chang family lost control. They were out.
The Current Owners: A Three-Headed Giant
After the first bankruptcy, a consortium of companies swooped in to buy the remains for about $81 million—which, for a brand that once made $4 billion a year, was basically pocket change.
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The primary owner is now Authentic Brands Group (ABG). If you haven't heard of ABG, you’ve definitely heard of what they own. They are like the "landlords" of dead or struggling brands. They own Juicy Couture, Brooks Brothers, Reebok, and even the rights to Elvis Presley’s name.
But ABG doesn't actually like "running" stores. They just want to own the name and the logo. To handle the actual messy business of selling clothes and paying cashiers, they teamed up with:
- Simon Property Group: The biggest mall owner in the U.S.
- Brookfield Properties: Another massive real estate giant.
This partnership formed a group called SPARC Group LLC. It was a survival move. Simon and Brookfield owned the malls where Forever 21 was the "anchor" tenant. If Forever 21 died, their malls would have giant, empty holes in them. So, they bought their own tenant to keep the lights on.
The 2025 "Chapter 22" Mess
Here is where things get really bleak. Even with the mall owners and ABG trying to save it, the business model didn't work. In early 2025, the operating side of the business (F21 OpCo LLC) filed for bankruptcy again. In the industry, they call this a "Chapter 22"—when a company fails, gets bought, and then fails immediately after.
As of early 2026, the situation is split:
- Authentic Brands Group still owns the Intellectual Property. They own the name "Forever 21."
- Catalyst Brands (a new entity formed after JCPenney’s parent company got involved) took over much of the operations.
- Shein, the ultra-fast fashion giant from China, actually bought a one-third stake in SPARC Group in 2023.
So, in a weird twist of fate, the company that basically killed Forever 21 by being faster and cheaper ended up owning a piece of it.
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Why Does This Matter to You?
If you're wondering why the quality feels different or why your local store closed, it’s because the "owners" are no longer fashion people. They are real estate investors and brand licensors.
Authentic Brands Group CEO Jamie Salter actually admitted in 2024 that buying Forever 21 was one of the "biggest mistakes" the company ever made. They realized that the brand was too tied to physical malls at a time when everyone was moving to TikTok and Shein.
Today, Forever 21 is more of a "ghost brand." The name exists, and you can buy the clothes on Shein's website or in some remaining JCPenney locations, but the original company that changed American fashion in the 2000s is effectively gone.
Actionable Insights: What to Expect Next
- Don't expect new flagship stores: The owners are pivoting away from those giant mall locations. Expect more "shop-in-shops" inside other retailers.
- Check the tag: Since ABG licenses the name out, the clothes are often made by third-party manufacturers who just pay to use the logo. Quality will be hit-or-miss.
- Watch the Shein App: Since Shein is now a part-owner of the operating group, most of the "new" Forever 21 inventory is being pushed through Shein's digital platform rather than Forever 21’s own website.
If you’re looking for that old-school Forever 21 experience, you’re basically looking at a brand that is currently being kept on life support by its landlords and its biggest competitor. It's a tough spot for a brand that used to define the American mall.
For anyone tracking the retail space, the best move is to watch Authentic Brands Group's next moves. They are the ones who decide if the brand gets a total reboot or if they just sell the name to a department store chain and call it a day.