Shein

Feb 26, 2022

Shein is a Chinese online fashion retailer founded in 2008 in Nanjing, China, by Chris Xu. The multinational clothing-retail company creates fast fashion for women, men, and children.

Shein makes clothing, accessories, shoes, beauty, jewelry, and beachwear. The Chinese company Nanjing Lingtian Information Technology Co., Ltd owns Shein and many other brands, such as ROMWE.

Shein has customers in many countries, including America, the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Middle East. It offers new clothing, shoes, and accessories for the whole family.

Shein is a fashion brand and clothing retailer based in Nanjing, China. It makes apparel, footwear, and accessories and offers a collection of basics, denim, knitwear, activewear, underwear, loungewear, swimwear, outerwear, bags, and accessories.

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Sustainability Rating: 2/10

Rating FAQ

Category: Clothing, accessories, shoes, bags, jewelry

For: Women, men, children

Type: Basics, denim, knitwear, activewear, underwear, loungewear, swimwear, outerwear, nightwear, bridal, maternity, flats, sandals, heels, boots, sneakers

Style: Casual

Quality: Low

Price: $

Sizes: petite, XS-XL, 2-12 (US), 4-14 (UK), 34-44 (EU), 6-16 (AU), plus size

Fabrics: Cotton, linen, hemp, ramie, jute, lyocell, modal, viscose, acetate, polyester, nylon, spandex, polyethylene, polypropylene, acrylic, neoprene, polyurethane, rubber, leather, wool, silk, down

100% Organic: No

100% Vegan: No

Ethical & Fair: No

Recycling: Yes

Producing country: not transparent enough

Certifications: no certification

Sustainability Practices

Shein wants to do good for your wardrobe and the world and give back to the community. It promotes a safe, fair, and happy environment for all people and turns to sustainable practices and fabrics.

Shein only uses a small proportion of organic materials such as organic cotton and hemp or recycled materials such as recycled polyester and regenerated nylon.

Most of the fabrics it uses are either natural without relevant certifications, such as cotton or linen, or synthetic petroleum-based fibers such as polyester, nylon, acrylic, and more.

Shein also uses a small amount of semi-synthetic fibers or regenerated cellulosic fabrics such as Tencel lyocell, modal, acetate, and viscose.

Tencel is an eco-friendly fiber made with wood pulp from certified sustainable forests. But only a tiny proportion of the materials used by Shein are environmentally friendly and sustainable.

Shein doesn't disclose the factories and partners it chooses to manufacture its products. It doesn't publish a list of all its manufacturers on its corporate website, Shein.com.

Shein is still facing accusations of sourcing clothes from factories and suppliers with disastrous working conditions. Its supply chain has poor health and safety records.

The Chinese fast-fashion company is also facing modern slavery and forced labor accusations for cases in China where workers make clothes for the company. It was accused of using forced labor to produce its clothing.

The 2021 Fashion Transparency Index gave Shein a score of only 1% based on how much the group discloses about its social and environmental policies, practices, and impacts.

Shein manufactures its clothes in China and many other East Asian countries, where human rights and labor law violations still happen every day.

Shein doesn't have a code of conduct that applies to its suppliers and subcontractors based on international regulations. It doesn't provide any information regarding how it chooses its suppliers.

Shein doesn't state if it conducts audits to ensure ethical and sustainable production, ethical working conditions, social and labor standards, safety, and other human rights for workers in its supply chain.

Shein uses exotic animal skin, hair, fur, and angora. It also uses leather, wool, silk, and down feathers to manufacture many clothing pieces.

These animal-derived materials are cruel and unethical. They also harm the environment by producing greenhouse gases and wastes. More sustainable alternatives exist.

Sustainability Goals

Shein doesn't show any measurement of its greenhouse gas emissions, water usage, pollution, and waste across its supply chain. It doesn't have any clear sustainability goal or timeline to improve in the future either.

Reviews And Experiences With Shein

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What We're Up Against

Multinational corporations overproducing cheap products in the poorest countries.
Huge factories with sweatshop-like conditions underpaying workers.
Media conglomerates promoting unethical, unsustainable products.
Bad actors encouraging overconsumption through oblivious behavior.
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