SHEIN II

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!

SHEIN

Ultra Fast Fashion is the name given to brands that have taken fast fashion and decided to do it faster and cheaper. It has forced the quality of the garments down and reduced workers' pay below the legal framework in China. Today, Shein is one of the worst brands out there if you're concerned about its ethical and environmental impact.

Shein ["She-in"] was funded in 2008 under the name of "SheInside" by Chris Xu (Xu Yangtian) and two other men. It was doing drop-sale wedding dresses until it branched out into general women's wear in around 2015 and bought Romwe. Then only with Chris Xu. With early customers primarily coming from Saudi Arabia and India, interest soon hit Brazil, Mexico, and the U.S, as well as customers on the European market. From being worth $15 Billion in 2020, it grew to be valued at nearly $100 Billions by investors during the Covid-19 pandemic, and experienced a +390% revenue between 2019-2022. Most of its growth happened in 2020 as more people leaned into online shopping. Shein is now "one of the world's most valuable private companies," according to the Wall Street Journal in 2022. Observer, claims it to be the "third most valuable private company in the world," only preceded by TikTok and Elon Musk. 

What are the issues with Shein?

With such success going for it, Shein is not a company associated with the ethical treatment of workers or environmental sustainability. 

On the forefront, it lacks transparency, a quality that will allow others a view into their practices, and the ability to access if what they are doing is up to industry standards, regional laws, and their own claims about themselves. Little is known about Shein, its funder, or its practices, and it discloses no meaningful information on its page.

In 2021, Public Eye published one of the first claims about workers' experience in the Shein Supply Chain. It has thousands of small supplier factories for them in Guangzhou, China, close to where its headquarters were relocated in 2017. Workers were assigned more than a 75 hours working week with no extra overtime payment or working contract, breaching Chinese Labor laws and Shein's Supplier Code of Conduct. Additionally, they only have 1-2 free days a month. The workforce consisted of "migrant workers" (people who have moved into cities to work at a higher pay rate than in the provinces to gain money for their families) who are paid per produced item of clothing. The pay was lower than in similar factories, but also have a lower quality requirement in production. In reality, what is being offered to the worker, be it a minimum pay, a base rate, or only pay per piece varies between the factories, but don't mistake it for fair wages.

The textile industry is disproportionately affecting women, and Shein is no different. The main workforce consists of skilled seamstresses, able to keep up with the rapid change in demand, techniques, and patterns required to support the Business-to-Customer (B2C) model of Shein. More work is outsourced to other regions where the wages are even lower. The most technical parts are still being produced in Guangzhou, making the workers increasingly concerned about the reduction in the number of pieces they are able to complete, and thus their income.

The Bussiness-to-Consumer model

The Bussiness-to-Consumer model is unique in the fast fashion world, and one of the reasons Shein is able to produce successfully at the quantities it is. The change began in 2014 when Shein went from drop-sale to becoming a fully integrated retailer. It pioneered micro-batch-production, where it produced 50-100 pieces of an item and tested it on the market using algorithm-based marketing to a hyper-specific audience. Shein has 300-400 main suppliers, and works with over a thousand sub-contractors. If an item was successful, they would order more of it. This is how Shein has been able to launch an average of 2 thousand new items every day across its platform with a lower cost loss if a product isn't successful. By using marketing data in real-time, it can have a turnaround time of 5-7 days for new products, creating an increasing number of mini-trends.

The Power of Social Media 

Shein's success is not entirely due to its business model, but also its marketing model. From the start, it has used social media to spread the word about its existence, early finding its way into expensive YouTube "hauls" before TikTok took the reins of the trend and blew it up to a large number of young consumers, primarily below 30 years of age, and Gen-Z. Shein can also flaunt a larger selection of sizes, styles, and some of the lowest prices, drawing in consumers which might find themselves alienated in the traditional fast fashion market.

Consumers are lured to their website with the promise of large and numerous discounts on already cheap clothing. For example, you get a voucher if you download their app, free shipping if you spend x amount of money on your order, or free returns within 60 days if you simply sign up for their mailing list, letting them market more of their products to you. Other vouchers can be found if you use their "daily check-in" feature on the app, or leave a review on a product. Shein WANTS YOU to stay in touch and spread the word, and it is making sure you do not miss it and that you keep spending your money in quantities on the brand. This is some of what has gotten Shein ranked as the "most manipulative fast-fashion site" applying eight dark patterns to influence the consumer to make purchases and make them share their data (for discounts).

This model of customer engagement works exceptionally well for eCommerce as it keeps the consumer coming back. However, it is a black hole if you look at how it is affecting consumer behavior towards overconsumption. Especially, young consumers are easily influenced and want to stay on-trend. To be able to do that at the speed it is moving online, affordable clothes are a must for most people. 

Shein is also known for using influencers to sell its product. Influencers help create a parasocial relationship between the person and the consumer (yourself) which often leads to the consumer trusting the word of the influencer without attaching critical thinking. The young demographic associated with Shein consumers is easily exploited in that way.

You can read more about their Digital Marketing Strategy here.

QUANTITY OVER QUALITY

Quantity over quality is one of the principles running Shein, but it is also causing severe environmental damage. First, they primarily use petroleum-based textiles, meaning synthetics aka plastics like polyester and nylon. Plastic shed microplastic throughout its entire lifespan. Still, it is a fabric favored for its cheap cost and predictability compared to natural fabrics. Synthetics are also known for being durable, however, in a production model where clothes are made in such low quality they barely have any resell value, durability is not a favorable quality.

That is also why an increasing number of Shein items make their way to the secondhand market. Secondhand buyers are expressing increasing despair over the lack of quality in secondhand stores. More is becoming fast fashion, and an increasing amount is from Shein. The secondhand market is in direct correlation with the firsthand market, meaning that what is being bought and discarded (donated) firsthand is what is making it into the secondhand market. With a high consumption rate and low-quality articles that don't always stay true to their description, items easily move on when a consumer isn't satisfied with their buy or finds it wearable for nothing more than a short period of time.

What isn't being redistributed secondhand across the globe with various ethical and environmental concerns, is likely to end up in a landfill in the global south or burned.

The impacts of water pollution, air pollution, and GHG emissions are also to be assumed by this brand similar to Fast Fashion.

Other concerns

 ✤ Finds of lead and heavy metals in children's and adult's clothes and accessories (2021)

 ✤ Theft of small-business designs (2021)

 ✤ Appropriating religious symbols as fashion (2022)

UNTOLD: Inside the Shein Machine 

Tomorrow, on Monday, October 17th, a new documentary is being released on All4 taking us inside Shein for the first time. This article was (finally) written in anticipation of the release, knowing it will add more light to the opaque supply chain of Shein. You can click here to read the Twitter thread and get updated on some of the main finds. I will do a review\summary of the documentary when the time comes.

An Introduction to fast fashion

Written from a Western Consumer perspective. Please, be wary of the influence of narratives, and show up with a critical mind. This field changes rapidly these days.

Fast fashion is an umbrella term for stores known for mass-producing poor-quality garments at a cheap price. They add new inventory to their shops every second week, if not oftener. Instead of keeping to the original four-seasonal collections of the year, the stores have created one for every week to keep you consuming their products to stay "on-trend." Many products from fast fashion brands are influenced by or outright duplicating the latest trends from designers, celebrities, or other influential people. In other words, it is "high-fashion" done cheap and fast. Many brands are found to steal successful designs from small or independent designers, as well as selling religious items or symbolism as trends. Fast fashion chains are available globally and are most of the Western consumers' favorite stores for inexpensive clothing. Some of the currently dominating fast fashion brands are H&M (including their daughter brands, Monki, Weekday, COS, Cheap Monday, &Other Stories, and ARKET.), BikBok, Forever 21, Mango, Zara, Free People, Primark, ASOS, and Urban Outfitters.

Check GoodOnYou.eco for sustainability ratings of your favorite brand(s).

HOW TO IDENTIFY A FAST FASHION BRAND

Speaking from my own experience, there was a time I didn't know what a fast-fashion was. It was not many years ago, but the learning experience has had a profound effect on my understanding of the world, and how I desire to live in it. As I learned more about fast fashion and sustainable fashion, I came to recognize a few points that help me identify if a store is sustainable and ethical. 

The first sign of a fast-fashion brand is inexpensive clothing in a large volume.

The clothing that is sold and produced is silly cheap compared to what it would cost to produce these items if workers were paid fair, living wages, and the brand took responsibility for its supply chain and environmental impact (A supply chain is a network between companies and suppliers that follows the creation of a garment from raw material to retail.) That clothing is inexpensive gives room for a high production volume (a large selection), and cheap(er) sales.

That fast fashion is considered inexpensive\cheap does not mean it is cheap for everyone. People still live on low wages all across the globe or have high expenses that leave little left to buy more expensive clothing. What people can afford to put into clothing is a question of their own personal economy and accessibility, and is nothing anyone else but them should police. Regardless, this does not justify the unethical production system necessary to produce the massive amount of cheap clothing fast fashion brands do.

The second sign of fast fashion is low-quality clothing.

Some fast-fashion items can last you a long time, there's no doubt about that. I have experienced that with sturdier pieces like thick sweat sets. However, most fast fashion items lose their shape and color after a few washes and wear due to the low-quality material used. Another issue is seams. Already on the first day, you may pull loose threads out of your top or pants, or simply, watch a jacket or socks slowly disintegrate as you wear them (e.g., faux fur or "cozy socks" shedding microplastics.) This is a result of the fast production system fast fashion uses, and their other practices (e.g., choice of materials). They want to pull around items fast, which leaves little room for quality checks and quality sewing. This issue reverberates throughout the supply chain and leaves consumers with garments of poor quality that need to be replaced often and ensures high-consumption rates. It also puts workers to complete long, repetitive tasks. For an industry that relies upon and desires continued economic growth, it is a useful mechanic to produce clothes that are not made to last or that often cannot be resold as clothing.

The third sign of a fast-fashion brand is high volume and rapid turn-around time.

One of the easiest signs to be aware of when identifying a fast-fashion brand is the large volume of items they are selling. This can be in a physical store or online. A large volume and variety of items speak to issues of overproduction, especially if you see signs of frequent sales in addition. Sales are historically a way to get rid of "old" products that didn't get sold. Frequent sales are thus a marker that they continue to produce more than they know they will sell out. Producing big batches of a product is normally more cost-effective compared to smaller batches. However, it leaves a heavy toll on the workers and the environment as a result. In summary, fast fashion chooses quantity over quality.

An important memo to make is that as consumers we can choose to buy less. We can become more conscious of what we buy, why we buy it, and which materials and brands we choose. Overproduction is one part of the issue; the other side is overconsumption. Preferably, we need to buy less firsthand, and we need to use our available secondhand resources better to keep garments out of landfill (borrow, swap, thrift, and DIY).

Photo: The Buyerarchy of Needs (With apologizes to Maslow), illustrated by Sarah Lazarovic.

Adding new items to their store frequently is also ensuring a high volume and rapid turn-around time. In the documentary, Inside Missguided (2020), there's an example of someone seeing a design they liked on social media, only to call the brand's supplier where they request it done in a short time as possible and as cheap as possible. Another happening from the same documentary exemplified parts of the next point on this list: that they do not know what they are getting before it is delivered at the company door.

Lack of transparency and overview of their supply chain is the last sign of a fast-fashion brand.

A few years ago when I got into the sustainable fashion sphere, recognizing a fast fashion brand was easier. Today, most brands greenwash (make claims or use symbolism that makes the brand look "greener" than it actually is) or have made minimum efforts to "ensure" ethical treatment in their supply chain. An example of this is telling you where a product is assembled by using the "made in-" tag. Where a product is assembled is one part of a brand's supply chain and overall sustainability and ethicality. However, it is also a part of the supply chain that has a lot of ongoing human rights issues. Worker's rights, modern slavery, sexual harassment, and no-pay issues are strong within the industry. There are also severe environmental concerns regarding deforestation, water pollution, and the industry's overall effect on climate change.

What is normal to see when a fast fashion brand claims to be sustainable is (1) vague phrasings ("that's why we think it is important to...", and future goals with no plans on how to achieve them ("we will work towards [goal] by [year]";). (2) Use of green symbolism (design) to appear greener than they are. This may be using colors evoking the beauty of nature, shades of green or earthy tones. (3) They use a minimal amount of recycled fibers in their new clothing or have limited, sustainable collections.

Sustainable collections can address certain environmental tolls during production or disposal, but they are often most considered greenwashing as they represent no more than a fraction of the brand's total production volume. It can also be assumed that while the fabric might be produced with better environmental practices, the assembly happens in the same fabrics that create their regular collections, therefore making no improvements on human development and ethical treatment where they produce and\or outsource.

To find some truths, you want to look for evidence that supports their claims. These can be independent third-party certifications and video\photo evidence on how people are treated in the supply chain, or which production methods they are using to reduce their environmental toll. Mostly you will find factory workers or recycling schemes, as they are some of the most controversial points in fast fashion at the moment. Certifications can be tricky because they are not a "fix-all solution." They normally certificate very specific conditions or practices and can be mixed with less-sustainable production methods or materials. Some certifications found used by fast fashion brands are them certificating themselves. If you want more information on this, I recommend checking out GitteMary Johansen's Youtube series regarding certifications. Certifications are a way to improve the current systems. If a brand wants to be truly sustainable, they need to take responsibility for the disposal of their products as well. Currently, that leads towards efforts to build a circular fashion industry where waste is designed out of production and reused, repurposed, or recycled when a product no longer is wanted.

A Circular Economy is an economy that is "restorative by design." It reuses or recycles all the resources in a product and production chain so no resources go to waste and lose their value. We're currently living in a linear economy. It is wasteful by design ("take-make-dispose"). Products lose value as they enter the waste stream. The main response in western countries and by brands is not to reuse these resources, but to remove them (e.g. burn or ship to poorer countries.)

The importance of transparency is therefore to make people aware of these social and environmental justice issues so the practices can change. However, as many brands do outsourcing (they produce in countries across the globe with fewer labor rights, lower minimum wage, and little overview to save money) this is not often an issue Western consumers see in their everyday life despite being a big part of the consumers. The Rana Plaza Factory Collapse in 2013 was one of few cases that have made international headlines. It started putting a face on the people who made our clothes, and under which conditions. However, it is important to note that the issues within the fashion industry in developing countries are also found in western countries like the U.S. and Britain.

A brand that is sustainable and ethical will often want to inform its customers of this with proof of their claims, plans, and explanations of what they are doing and which difference it is making. Transparency helps create trust between the producer and the consumer. It let the consumer know where their money is going towards. If you do not find any information on a store's website, it is likely that they don't have anything positive to say. As an end note, it should be noted that transparency in itself is not a change of practices, it is an openness about practices. You always want to find hard evidence of what they are doing. Often this includes contacting the brand via e-mail to confirm or ask for more details.

FURTHER RESOURCES

If you want more on this topic I recommend watching The True Cost (2015) or reading "Consumed: The need for collective change: Colonialism, Climate Change & Consumerism (2020)" by Aja Barber. You might also want to check out Fashion Revolution on how to get involved, or work through their free online course, Fashion's Future and the Sustainable Development Goals for a comprehensive introduction to the issues inside the fashion industry and how they affect people and the planet.

This is a repost from my old  blog and may not reflect my current understandings of the topics discussed.

This is an updated guide to greenwashing from my original 2019 post.

Greenwashing is when companies make more effort to appear sustainable through their advertisement and marketing than their practices actually reflect. It is a way to jump on the "sustainability trend" and to encourage consumers who want to shop more sustainably to shop at them instead of brands that genuinely care for the people and environment. Sustainable Collections like Conscious by H&M, Aware by Vero Moda, or Primark's Wellness Collections are examples.

Over the last years, spotting greenwashing has become increasingly more difficult. More brands have jumped on the train to appear green or more ethical. They may add a location of assembly, a percentage of recycled materials into their products, or add "sustainability policies" to their website where they tell you everything they want to do and care about. While these are not bad beginnings, they do not necessarily reflect the reality behind the brand's marketing surface. This is where learning to spot greenwashing is an increasingly useful tool. It helps you decide if the claims they make have a hold.

Sustainability is on a spectrum 

Sustainability exists on a spectrum. It isn't really that one brand is sustainable while another one is not. There isn't one perfect brand out there as fashion is not an industry that leaves a positive impact on the planet. Rather, we have plenty that makes different efforts towards more sustainable practices on different levels (and those who are failing entirely.) This means you may have to compromise and prioritize your values when you want to purchase something firsthand. Maybe you only want to buy natural fibers and have to opt for conventional cotton over synthetics, or maybe only recycled fibers but there's not any that truly contain 100%? Good ethics or the most sustainable materials? There's not a perfect way to do any of this, and what you can access is personal. The best you can do is your best at the given moment. (Personally, I think this starts with learning about the industry and what goes into your clothing, but that's an entirely different topic.)

 How to spot greenwashing 101

1. Go to their site and read what they have to say about their own environmental impact and responsibilities, and ethical considerations. How much transparency do they have? Are workers getting paid fairly? Do you get any information about their workers and workplaces? Where are their factories located? What materials are their clothes made out of? How are these raw materials sourced? Which processes are used? How much are they producing? And are any of their claims certified by an independent 3rd party? (You can't really certify yourself unbiased.) 

You want to know as much as possible, and for the knowledge to be positive. Workers should have fair pay and basic human rights. None should go to their work without proper safety equipment. Location is important because it gives an indicator of that country's minimum pay and generally how they have treated workers' rights and safety in the past. What your clothes are made out of is about which impact the production of that raw material takes. Conventional cotton is incredibly intensive in water and pesticides, synthetics are an oil-derivative. Organic means agriculture practices that work more with nature, without pesticides, and uses less water. Linen and hemp are plants that manage well with little resources. Bamboo (Lyocell) uses a lot of chemicals to be broken down into the soft material it is from wood. The same goes for Viscose, and so on.

Look for good certifications like:

› OEKO-TEX®: 

› Eco-Cert

› Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS)

› Global Recycling Standard (GRS)  

› SA8000: 

› BlueSign®  

› Cradle to Cradle

and many more. Here's a list.

Choose materials like:

› Recycled or deadstock materials (especially for animal-derived materials, plastic, and cotton)

› Regenerative or organic

› Linen, Hemp

› Lyocell, Viscose 

› Tencel

Some online retailers are notoriously fast fashion and meet none of these requirements. I want to make it easy by naming a few: Shein, Rombew, Zaful. If you look at their sites you will find no information about the production, ethical treatment, and the majority of the clothes are made from plastic. The pictures are often taken from other creators as well. If you're lucky, your order shows up in the mail after a while, but you have technically no idea what it is made of or if the description even is genuine in the first place. What goes into their dyes, how are the workers treated, are they paid a fair living wage, how are the animals treated? You simply won't know. Personally, it's not something I would risk knowing our skin is our largest organ that absorbs 60-70% of what it touches.

2. Notice their wording. The wording is important when you want to know if someone actually is doing something or if they only aim to do something in the future. Setting goals and postponing them when the goal-year has passed and they failed is something that could have been taken straight out of politics. When a brand says they "want to work towards something at x year" or "reach x goal by x year" this is not telling you anything about what they're actually doing right now or if they ever will accomplish it. Ask: Are they saying something about how they want to accomplish this? Are they showing the results of the works they already have done to reach that goal in time? Or are there just words and nothing more? 

3. Browse their catalog to see what their shop actually reflects. Pick a handful of various products and look at the details. What are they made out of? How many percentages of each material?  Where was it made? What else does it say about the material? Is it open and want to explain to you how something is produced or more closed off and secretive? Does it say anything at all? Does it tell you how to properly take care of the garment?

When I buy new garments I aim to buy them as "clean" as possible. By this I mean that I do not want mixed materials, e.g. 50% synthetics and 50% organic cotton if I don't have to. Mixed materials are generally not recyclable which means your garment will be burned or downcycled when you choose to dispose of it. (Hopefully, in a very long time since you have to address longevity in your own care for the garment to make it sustainable.) Additionally, I try to stay away from synthetics in clothing that I feel do not need it. Instead, I will choose recycled alternatives (certified or ECONYL, as recycled plastic may come from firsthand plastic bottles made simply to be recycled) in swimwear and sportswear where the qualities of synthetic materials have a stronger purpose. We are living with a plastic problem and one way to deal with it is to reuse it, and not support the overproduction of virgin materials. However, it is not unproblematic as even recycled plastic items shed microfibers and need some virgin fibers to make the recycled fibers usable. If you can, aim to wash it as little as reasonably, at low temperature, and use an eco-friendly detergent. If you can afford it purchase a microfiber collecting bag or filter when you wash it, e.g. Guppy Friend, to collect up most of the microfibers that release from your garments during a wash. Hang to dry.

4. Are they taking responsibility for the repair and disposal\reuse of their products?

Most brands produce something and then it's up to the consumer to dispose of it when they're done wearing it. Most products are not recyclable and will therefore end up as waste in a landfill or burned instead of being reused or recycled. The future of the fashion industry is circular. This means brands have to take responsibility for the end-of-life treatment of what they produce and not be okay with the excess waste being shipped to poorer countries or burned without a second glanze. Does this brand let you send your used garments back so they can better dispose or reuse them? Do they offer repairs if something breaks? Both are something that should be in the interests of brands that truly care about sustainability.

5. Are they inclusive? Are they respectful of cultural items and garments?

A brand also has to take into consideration its audience, and the people they profit off. If they are only selling clothes in sizes XS-L they are not really being inclusive, and how can the sustainable fashion industry being sustainable and ethical if it only caters to a certain part of the population? Most of all, accessible? The same goes for those who are allowed to model their products, how people are treated at HQ, and so on. The latter is difficult to know and rather is a question of what comes out 'later' than what you as a consumer know right now. However, you can look up controversies around a brand by simply googling it and see if it has had any rundowns around this. If so, how did they deal with it? Does the brand respect cultural garments and accessories, or are they ripping them off with no consideration for or cooperating with the minority groups they represent?

6. Are they giving back? 

Giving back is not something all brands can do, especially smaller ones. It costs, and sometimes you are just trying to survive on the market. However, there are different things brands can support to actively support sustainability projects, ethical treatment, and so on in issues related to the industry. Some are being Certified B-corporation and 1% for the Planet, or humaniterian projects. They do not alone tell you if a brand is sustainable or not thought. Some will check if they offset their carbon emission for transportation, for example, however personally I don't believe carbon offsetting to be particularly effective so it's not something I weigh heavily.

Regardless of what you are buying, overconsumption is never sustainable. Consider if you need something new if you can get it secondhand, DIY with something you already have, or by swapping with someone before you buy it brand new. Those are always a more sustainable solution than firsthand consumption. Even sustainable brands.  Half of the impact of your clothing is the responsibility of the brand. The other half is up to you. The most impactful consumer action is longevity.