The Problems With SHEIN

Last week it was released that SHEIN is now worth a massive $100 billion. In the past, SHEIN have been accused of stealing designs, selling anti-semitism items and having poor sustainability practices. This post will discuss why SHEIN, a global leader in fast fashion is contributing to issues in the industry.

RISE OF SHEIN THROUGH TIK TOK

The pandemic resulted in many people spending their time shopping online, with many showcasing their new finds by creating Tik Toks. On this social media platform, SHEIN became the centre of Tik Tok's success with millions of people creating content showing their new fast fashion pieces, with almost 26 billion hashtags on the social media platform and nearly 5 billion hashtags sharing #sheinhaul.

A quick hashtag search will take you to the millions of videos filled with Gen-Z sharing their try-on videos to show other Tik Tok users. As consumers, we need to understand the true cost of purchasing clothing on this scale, which contributes to the over-consumption growth of fashion and the manufacture of making more clothes than we truly need. Buyers are able to purchase such quantities from brands such as SHEIN due to the shockingly cheap prices they are given. But shouldn't we be thinking about why their prices are so low and how they are still making a profit?

SHEIN'S LACK OF SUSTAINABILITY PRACTICES

Ratings given to SHEIN are extremely low, with the brands rating platform, Good On You sharing that "none of its supply chain is certified by labour standards which ensure worker health and safety, living wages or other labour rights." As well as this, the not-for-profit organization global movement, Fashion Revolution also gave SHEIN a rating of 0-10% in their 2021 Fashion Transparency Index.

As fast fashion garments are mass produced on a large scale, the clothing consists of poorly made pieces that last only a couple months before tearing/breaking. Due to the low cost of these, it seems pointless to get them repaired as this would simply cost more than the garment was originally sold for. This contributes to one of the biggest issues in the fashion industry, waste. High consumption of clothing has issued problems for the environment and practices need to be altered to avoid the growth of waste ending in landfill. Continuing to manufacture clothing using raw materials needs to reduce. Instead, brands need to implement ways of using materials that already exist into their products and combat the issues of over-consumption.

WHAT SHEIN HAVE BEEN ACCUSED OF

As mentioned earlier, SHEIN has been scrutinised on many of their practices, including stealing other artists work and child labour. Let's first talk about design theft which they have been found to do on several occasions. Design theft is when a brand will steal the designs of another artist/fashion designer and sells similar or identical pieces for their own brands. Brands who steal from other brands and designers will seek a new style and create the same garment at a much cheaper cost, including finding the cheapest manufacturing practice and selling price.

Stealing designers from independent designers

Young and independent designers work tirelessly to come up with unique and original designs to place their feet in the fashion world, but brands like SHEIN take advantage of this and take the opportunity to steal their designs. Below is an image showing the work of an independent designer who's design was stolen by SHIEN.

Twitter @TheElleyy

The designer highlights that it took her "hours designing and brainstorming this design and it takes days to crochet each sweater". As you can see in the image shown on the right, SHEIN reciprocated an identical design including the same colours to create the exact garment. As the original designer stated, each of her pieces are crocheted and take time, SHEIN are simply selling at a much cheaper price using machine technology. Actions such as this made by brands can ruin a designers passion and career. Consumers are simply getting the same product but at a fast fashion price point. SHEIN need to really think about the violations made when conducting theft of other designers work.

Selling racist and anti-Semitism products

Not only have SHEIN stolen the designs of other brands and designers, they have also sold items which are racist, with some promoting anti-Semitism. In 2020, a necklace of the Swastika symbol was being sold on their website. As well as this, SHEIN were previously selling mats similar to religious prayer mats as a common decorative mat on their website.

Instagram @s.khadija.r showing rugs being sold on SHEIN (2020)

The image above showcases just some of the mats that were being sold. These products have now been taken off the website and SHEIN yet again had to make a public apology. To the millions of followers on their Instagram account, SHEIN stated that "as a global brand, we vow to do a much better job in educating ourselves on different cultures, religions and traditions to ensure our diverse community is respected and honoured", (SHEIN 2020 via Instagram).

WHAT YOU CAN DO

One aspect you can do in relation to boycotting SHEIN is to show support to any brands who they are stealing designs from, such as sharing on social media. When a designers work is stolen and copied, they need support and the best way to generate quick and global support is by using social media as an advantage. This can be used to pressure SHEIN to remove all designs related to that designer.

If you would like to learn more about where you can shop sustainable brands and check sustainability ratings, visit https://goodonyou.eco/ or download their app (not an ad).

Sabrina Cowper | Reform Your Fashion