Funded with $11,000 in savings,[11] designs similar to those seen in South Korea were sold to and targeted at the Los Angeles Korean American community.

[14] Unlike its competitors, the company also focused on whole families, rather than teenagers exclusively, and at a typical 25,000 square feet, had significantly larger stores.

In 2006, the company opened its 40,000 square-foot showcase store in Pasadena, California, offering women's, men's, and children's clothing, as well as accessories and lingerie.

In April 2008, the Chicago Tribune wrote that, while many retailers were scaling back expansion to adjust for the economy, Forever 21 was "going gangbusters" and expanding at a fast rate: over the prior three years its number of stores had doubled to around 400 worldwide.

The Center for Environmental Health found that 26 retailers and suppliers, including Forever 21, had been selling jewelry containing cadmium, a toxic metal.

[15] Also in 2011, several Forever 21 women's shirts were criticized by online users for seeming anti-education and sexist, including one that said "Allergic to Algebra", another that said "Skool sucks", and a third that had "I heart school" on the front and "not ..." on the back.

[16] Stating to ABC News that "our intent was not to discredit education," Forever 21 pulled the "Allergic to Algebra" shirt from its website.

[31] Wrote Women's Wear Daily about the bankruptcy, "the company over expanded with too many stores that were too big, and lacked sufficient e-commerce business.

[2] Over the next year, it withdrew from Hong Kong,[39] Portugal,[40] Japan,[41][42] and Canada,[43] and closed its website and physical stores in England.

[5] In December 2021, Forever 21 announced that it had hired Virtual Brand Group to create a metaverse game for the company that allowed players to operate custom fashion stores.

[60] ABG sued Bolt Financial in New York[61] for failure to "deliver promised technology", stating that Forever 21 had lost $150 million in online sales[62] due to a botched rollout of a new e-commerce platform in 2021.

[61] ABG described Bolt's software integration with Forever 21's mobile app as "disastrous," with multiple technical issues interfering in purchases.

[66] In February 2025 it was reported that Forever 21 was working with restructuring firm BRG to evaluate a range of possible options for the company including selling off profitable leases in order to stave off a second bankruptcy filing.

Forever 21 denied the accusations, asserting its commitment to fair labor practices and that "none of the workers named in the suit were directly employed by the company".

[68] A three-year boycott of Forever 21 was held throughout the United States by the garment workers, with the 2007 documentary film, Made in L.A., capturing the movement.

[69][70] The charge was dismissed by U.S. District Court Judge Manuel Real, Forever 21 responded with a defamation suit in 2002,[71] asserting that its reputation and sales were both impacted by the allegations and protests.

[73] After the Labor Department found that some of Forever 21's suppliers had violated various federal laws on wages and record-keeping, a subpoena was ordered in August 2012.

The New York Times noted in 2007 that "while it takes a designer like Marc Jacobs or Michael Kors several months to get clothes into stores after their debut on the runways, Forever 21 delivers interpretations of the same looks within six weeks.

[70] By October 2007, lawsuits numbered over 20,[79] with Trovata, Anna Sui, Harajuku Lovers and Diane von Fürstenberg Studio all filing suits against Forever 21 that month.

However, The New York Times then noted that "[2007 American law] does not protect clothing design from being copied (logos are an exception)," opining the lawsuits would be unlikely to end in verdicts against Forever 21.

[83] On 28 January 2015, the software developers Adobe, Autodesk and Corel filed a joint lawsuit against Forever 21 for allegedly using unlicensed copies of Photoshop, AutoCAD and PaintShop Pro, respectively.

[86] In September 2019, American singer Ariana Grande accused and sued Forever 21 for $10 million for copying her style and likeness by dressing up their models the same way in their photo-shoot from her music video of "7 Rings".