Amazon Might Be Thinking About Buying Everlane

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If Amazon can't get fashion brands to sell on its site, why not buy the fashion brands?

After knocking on fashion's door for years, Techcrunch reports that the etailer's been "eyeballing"  a slew of direct-to-consumer brands for something of an acquisition spree.

The site names Everlane, Rent the Runway, Le Tote, ThirdLove and PreeLine amongst those Amazon's (allegedly) after. Everlane, at least, would offer some of the cool Amazon's long chased.

Fashion's always been willing to take Amazon's money—they sponsor fashion weeks, hire former fashion editors, build edgy photo studios—but the industry has never been very interested in being a part of Amazon. High-end brands have ignored its advances because, well, you've been on Amazon. It's not chic, and no one wants to sell at discount.

But earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal reported an increase in high profile brands available on the site. Names like Calvin Klein, Kate Spade, and Lacoste have agreed to be sold on Amazon in the past year, which in turn promised to sell their goods at full price.

Amazon's bought other major ecommerce sites like Shopbop and Zappos, in 2006 and 2009 respectively, but a brand would be new territory, especially if it's a direct-to-consumer one like Everlane and ThirdLove. You'd hope that Amazon would let them continue to operate as they have, rather than putting their goods on its own site. But would it?