Annie Stockwell
// Is that $2.00 shirt really worth it? //
Scrolling through Youtube, a user can easily access several videos titled “Huge Shein Haul” followed by expressive emojis. In one of the videos, a teenager jumps into the frame of the screen clutching oversized boxes filled with clothing. As she tears apart the plastic that wraps her items, she says the price of her clothing ranges between $2 and $30—never exceeding $30. To many, the brand Shein is well-known, notorious even. After typing shein.com into a browser, anyone can see what Shein represents: fast fashion.
Fast fashion is the unethical rapid production of large amounts of clothing, and it is the second most polluting industry in the world. Because items are cheaply mass-produced, this clothing has the ability to stay trendy. Shein uses nonrenewable materials such as polyester and nylon, which are both rated the worst environmentally-friendly clothing materials. It is obvious that the company’s leadership does not care about the environmental and ethical issues that are posed by fast fashion.
A relatively new company, Shein was founded in 2008 by Chris Xu. Shein, along with Romwe and Zaful (which are other popular fast fashion brands), is owned by the Shenzhen Globalegrow E-Commerce company in China. In order to maximize profits, all of these brands sell cheap items. Their clothing is typically meant to be worn once—in an Instagram photo or for a night out.
With the rise of social media, fast fashion brands such as Shein have a particularly broad reach and impact. They market their products towards Gen Z through the use of social media. This strategy of using social media to promote their brand has been successful as Shein “has doubled its sales for eight consecutive years.” Its low prices and trendy fits are thus marketed to a large demographic of the population, making the brand difficult to resist. Shein has recruited influencers such as Addison Rae on apps such as TikTok and Instagram to promote their brand with social media posts and promo codes for an “extra 15% off the entire @shein_us site!” Just by paying influencers to tag their brand, Shein is able to attract millions of customers.
One could argue that Shein is the ideal clothing site: it is constantly up to speed with trends, it has extremely low prices, and it is diverse in sizing. How could anything possibly be wrong with it? The reason that Shein is able to sell an immense amount of clothing with obscenely low prices is because the brand exploits their workers. In a press release from 2020, Shein reported that they debut 500 new items per day. While there is no evidence that Shein utilizes sweatshops, where large amounts of people work in poor, even illiegal conditions, or uses child labor, it is difficult to comprehend how a company can produce that amount of clothing with such low prices without participating in unethical practices.
While Shein engages in unethical practices such as fast fashion and sweatshops, it is easy to understand why there are people drawn to the brand. For low-income customers, Shein offers thousands of pieces of clothing for very low prices. The brand’s main message is that “everyone can enjoy the beauty of fashion.” Being a teenager is difficult overall, but when one includes the pressure of staying up with trends (if that is something someone cares about), or wanting to fit in, one’s financial situation can get in the way. With brands such as Shein, people from different economic classes can have access to a diverse array of clothing products. However, those from high income households should certainly not purchase items and clothing from Shein. It is not necessary to buy twenty shirts, all worth around $2, when one has the ability to buy clothing from more sustainable brands, such as thredUP, Reformation, and Levis. While brands such as Reformation are high in prices, there are ways to avoid paying $150 for a shirt. Apps like Depop and Poshmark allow anyone to sell their clothing and give it a new purpose. In addition, websites such as thedUP, serve as online thrift stores. In addition to online sources for sustainable fashion, popular thrift stores such as Goodwill, Savors, and Boomerangs offer a variety of clothing for prices that are similar to those of Shein. The issue with popular sustainability like Reformation or Patagonia is that sustainability comes with a larger cost. Even items from these stores sold second-hand are still sold at a high price. Sustainable clothing requires a lot more money to produce, therefore, the price tag increases. The truth is, while sustainable fashion is ideal, the prices are not friendly to everyone. However, it is important for those who are in a position of financial security to do their part to help combat the environmental and ethical concerns that are posed by the fast fashion industry by not purchasing from those brands.
Ultimately, Shein fuels the fast fashion industry and the harmful environmental and ethical repercussions that stem from it. Because of social media and TikTok influencers, such as Cynthia Parker and Lauren Kettering who use the #SHEINgirls hashtag and promote brands such as Shein and Fashion Nova, fast fashion has become increasingly more popular. People feel the need to have a new outfit everyday. A $2.00 shirt sounds appealing, yet fast fashion trends come at the cost of our own invaluable environment.
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Fast fashion has extreme effects on the environment
Many companies such as Shein use unethical labor practices