Written in 2023. Originally written for a website I played games on to share with my friends. Some facts, especially numbers, may have changed since the time of writing. A few additions have been made to account for relevant updates in 2024.
Related content: SHEIN (2022); An introduction to fast fashion (2022).
UNTOLD: INSIDE THE SHEIN MACHINE
In Untold: Inside the Shein Machine, an uncover investigation exposed garment workers working condition. From getting paid 3pence per garment they worked on to 18 hours shift, a 75 hours work weeks with only 1-2 days off a month. The enforced working hours breached Chinese Labor Laws, and SHEIN's own supplier code of conduct.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SHEIN
On-going events SHEIN is involved in:
* Sued in the US for continously committing design theft at the point of organised crime (RICO Act)
* Under investigation for tax evasion in South Africa and The United States
* Per 2022, SHEIN has been under investigation by the US for the use of cotton produced by forced labor. The concern is traced to the use of cotton sourced from the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of China, which is known for severe breaches of human rights and exploitation of the Uighur minority group. The US bans the import of cotton produced by forced labor, meaning this can result in a ban of imported products with cotton from SHEIN to the USA.
* In fall 2023, SHEIN aquired Missguided & co-branded with Forever21.
* SHEIN continues to be one of the most downloaded apps internationally (rivaled by Temu)
A Short history of SHEIN:
SHEIN is a Chinese hyper fast fashion online retailer (as of 2023, with HQ in Singapore) selling everything from clothes and jewelry to interior and makeup. It was established in 2008 as "SheInside," but didn't take its place as a fast fashion brand before it bought up Romwe in 2015 and expanded beyond dropshipped wedding dresses. SHEIN can thank TikTok for much of its rise to fame, advertised by influencers and private users at far cheaper costs than traditional commercials (and noone to call them out for unethical marketing as they only exist online - still). However, it was not until the COVID-19 pandemic hit that SHEIN got evaluated as a $100 billion business from its $15 billion evaluation in 2019, gaining a +390% in revenue in 2020-2021. This gave it it's spot of the third most valued private company in the world. The growth relied on workers working in hazardious working conditions and not getting paid while lockdowns was enforced around the world. The growth, unsurprisingly, came from consumers now purchasing their clothes online as the pandemic reigned.
General issues with SHEIN:
• SHEIN is a opaque brand, shares zero information about what's going on in their supply chain, proper content of their products, or ethical treatment of workers. Opaque is the opposite of transparent. Transparency simply means that a brand is open about its practices (location of assembly, production country) without these needing to be sustainble or ethical. Transprency is considered the first step towards creating a more ethical and sustainable fashion industry. While the call for transparency intensifies, it also shows to just how hard it is to trace a global supply chain. From outsourced supplier and under-suppliers, and raw materials sources from several places around the world, any producer will battle the complexity of this production system to ensure better rights and ethics.
* SHEIN is considered hyper fast fashion, meaning that its volume of production and turn-around time is higher and faster than traditional fast fashion brands like H&M and Zara. Together with SHEIN'S micro-batch-production strategy (you can read more about it in SHEIN I), this allows SHEIN to add on average 2 thousand new items to their page every day. This is an example of severe overproduction, which alone will deem a company unsustainable.
> The wast majority of SHEIN clothing are in syntethic (plastic) materials (polyester, acryl, elastan, nylon, etc.) Syntethics are oil-derivatives that release microfibers throught the entire lifespan. Microfibers is a type of microplastis known for a myriad of environmental issues. The death of wildlife and accumulation into (sea) food sources like fish, is one example. However, syntethic clothes alone is not the larges sources of microplastic - car tiers, paint, fishing gear and other plastic products are also among top offenders. All plastic products releases microplastics, making the plastic crisis a global concern. Recent studies have found microplastics inside the human body, in the placenta, bloodstream, and the deepest of our lungs. The exact impact our plastic waste crisis can have on the human body still lacks research. Yet, in 2022 scientists claimed that we have already trepassed a safe limit for use of plastics within our planetary boundaries (plastic is categorized within "novel entities"). It may now make sense how this can make the recent rise of SHEIN a relevant concern.
> Using enduring materials like syntethics in low quality garments makes for a lot of trash, as the items become unwearable fast, but the fibers will endure long past our lifetime. SHEIN purposefully designs its clothes (and app!) to make you purchase something new again soon. This type of business model is common today as it upkeeps a rising demand, and it is entirely unsustainable. The result of a syntethic sweater not being wearable anymore is that it will become trash and pollution. Most likely, in the Global South due to waste colonialism and the secondhand garment industry. You can read a review of the book "Clothing Poverty" by Andrew Brooks here to dive into further issues related to the secondhand industry. Watch "Dead White Man's Clothes" on youtube or read about the Chilean Clothing mountain.
> Garment workers are one of the lowest paying workers in the world. They are primarily skilled women of color (~80%), making the exlotation of workers in the fashion industry a women's rights issue. Experiencing gender based violence, sexual harassment and modern slavery as well as low pay*, lack of safe working places and illegal work hours. Additonally, women can be laid off for getting pregnant.
*Low pay is the opposite of a living wage and the exact value changes between countries. CleanClothes define a living wage as: "A living wage should be earned in a standard working week (no more than 48 hours) and allow a garment worker to be able to buy food for herself and her family, pay the rent, pay for healthcare, clothing, transportation and education and have a small amount of savings(...)"
It should still not be forgotten that both men and women suffer the consequences of the unethical working conditions SHEIN (and other companies) upholds. The primariy effort you can make as a consumer is to uplift the voices of garment workers (make other people aware and listen to the people on the ground. They know how to make the appropriate changes the best), sign petitions, call brands out on socials, and donate to relief funds and alliances. Be cautious of which brands you give good word of mouths and money to as people don't tend to change their behavior after what sicence tells them, but rather what they see their friends and family do.
• SHEIN is ranked the most manipulative online retailer for using eight dark patterns. These primarily encourage young female consumers to overconsume in the fear of "missing out." It is another way to pray on women to uphold a unsustainable and unethical business by men that do not genuinely care for their safety or rights.
• SHEIN has countless times been found to steals designs from independent and small businesses. It also used religious symbols on carpets and sold them as "trends."
• Unsurprisingly, Pinkwashing or "rainbow capitalism" happens at SHEIN as with numerous companies in June. They release PRIDE themed collections simply to profit out of it without making any other support of the LGBTQIA+ communities. Instead, try to directly support LGBTQIA+ owned brands and creators.
IMPACTS ON YOUR HEALTH
[1] Experts warn of high levels of chemicals in clothes - Canada
[2] German Greenpeace tested SHEIN clothing and found that 15% (7) of them breached EU regulatory limits for hazardous chemicals. Five of seven surpassed the limit by 100%.
[3] "Shein contained toxic substances in amounts hundreds of times above acceptable levels, the government of South Korea's capital Seoul said on Tuesday, May 28." - Soul, South Korea
> How does this happen? Items produced by SHEIN (or other, similar companies) are imported by
private persons are NOT obligated to meet EU safety standards. This
means they can contain chemicals that can cause you severe health issues
that otherwise are banned in EU or the US\CAN. Common are chemicals
linked to cancer or hormone disruption. These can be resiudes from the
raw materials (farming or plastic production), dyes, and other additives
that are added to clothes during the manufacturing process. The content of dyes and additives are not
required to be shared like the fiber content, so this goes for all types
of clothes you purchase. Items with water-resistant qualities are
strongly linked to the presence of PFAS ("the forever chemicals") and phthalates. You can read more about chemicals in clothing here.
Unsafe chemicals in clothing links to pollution in three important ways.
First is your health as your skin absorbs them from being in contact
with the garment. Second, is the chemicals that will be washed out into
the waterways, and third is the majority of disposed garments leading to
landfill where the chemicals can pollute the local water sources, soil, air, and the people and working\living there.
Many countries experience the placement of landfills disapporioately affecting communities of color. This issue resaches from Western countries like the U.S. to the Global South where waste colonialism again exploits and pollutes communities of color to upkeep their profit and sales to western countries.
In other words,
it impacts you, and every human that deal with a garment like this
throught the supply and waste chain. The environment, and environe
relying on polluted natural resources.
The real Environmental Impact of the fast fashion industry - An overall review of the fashion industry where you get to see how big SHEIN is compared to traditional fast fashion brands.
WHAT CAN I DO?
• Don't buy things you don't need - is it a need or a want? Check if you alredy own a similar piece or if you already have something you can use! #ShopInYourOwnCloset
• Reduce how often you buy synthetical fibers in clothes that are being washed a lot or quickly shed fibers (especially, fake fur, teddy, fuzzy items)
• Choose fibers that are purposeful for the use you're buying an item for, fx. syntethics is purposeful in swimwear, sportswear, but not as much in a loose sweater.
• Find ways to extend the use of your garments, for example, with a bra strap extender if you fluctuate between sizes, reuse, repairs and repurposing
• Prioritize finding a good item that you will use a lot and love no matter the price. Longevity is one of the best consumer actions for sustainable clothing use.
• Borrow, swap, lend, resell, and inherit clothes more often!
• Always do a quality check on what you buy. Check the seams and if the garment doesn't look askew; is the fiber a good pick for what you're gonna use it for; does it lint easily; do buttons and details sit well; can it be washing machine cleaned and so on. How does this item fit into your lifestyle? (more on this below.)
• Always use your right to complain for poorly produced items. It can make it less profitable to produce low-quality items! Honestly, always use your right as a consumer. Make sure it stays protected and keep protecting you.
Q&A'S
I can only afford SHEIN to stay well-dressed, what do I do?
That's okay. You're not the issue if SHEIN is the only brand that makes your ends meet. The issue is overproduction by SHEIN and overconsumption from consumers of higher disposable income. Remember, you can still help calling SHEIN out for its bad practices, and make an effort to care for your clothes! You can buy a brand and want them to do better.
SHEIN is the only brand that have plus-size clothing I like!
That's okay. Plus-size clothing only makes up around 8% of todays market. The plus-size demographic is far from the issue causing overconsumption. Remember, you can still help calling SHEIN out for its bad practices on social media and sign petitions for a more ethical fast fashion industry! Also, take well care of your clothes! You can buy a brand and want them to do better!
[Insert brand] is also fast fashion and is just as bad as SHEIN?
Correct! However, SHEIN has been given extra attention recently for overproducing low-quality garments at an alarming rate. SHEIN encourages immense overconsumption where it cannot ensure the ethical treatment of workers, environmental standards, or safe use for its consumers. SHEIN being unsustainable does not make [insert fast fashion brand] sustainable. Instead it is worrying how SHEIN is portray traditional fast fashion brands in a good light.
I don't want to buy SHEIN anymore, but I can only buy fast fashion: What do I do?
Pick your local fast fashion store, or secondhand. Your local fast fashion store is bound to national safety laws. You do not have to boycott fast fashion to not consume SHEIN. Sustainable consumption primarily relies on these principles: the speed at which you consume new and the length of time you wear an item for. Options to take care of your clothes and recognize quality are important even when shopping fast fashion!
Learn the different fiber qualities to make purposeful choices for what you're buying! 1 2 3 4
Learn to spot basic quality in your clothes! 1 2 3
Keep an eye out for certifications! 1
How to wash, repair and mend your clothes with #LOVEYOURCLOTHES
Use the Goodonyou.eco brand directory to search for ethical and sustainable brands!
Does SHEIN own other brands?
Yes, SHEIN, Zaful and Romwe are tied to the same owners and parent company. As of fall 2023, SHEIN acquired Missguided and co-branded with Forever21 (F21 can retail on their webstore).
What is an alternative way to consume fast fashion?
Consider embracing a slow fashion mindset! Prioritize the points that are doable for you. Perfection is not the goal. Slowing down consumption and getting the most out of what you already own and will own is! Learn a skill that keeps the garment alive, or how to make your own.
I want to check if a brand is good or bad, but I don't know how!
Learn to spot greenwashing OR use GoodOnYou.eco to check brand reviews!
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