Chinese fast fashion retail giant Shein launches Shein Exchange, an online platform for buying and selling second-hand items.
The service will be launched in the first phase in the United States, and later, depending on the success of the pilot, it will be implemented in other countries around the world.
The announcement of the launch of the service comes a few days after the British Channel 4 published an investigation into the employment conditions at two of the company's factories in China.
The findings of the investigation reveal painful facts, but ones that have been known for a long time - by-products of fast fashion that the workers pay for: 18 hours of work a day, only one day off a month, women who have to shower during their lunch break because they have no other time to do so, and a meager salary which is measured according to the sewing power.
According to the company, this is a move designed to address the problem of textile waste.
Although there are quite a few investigations that bring out the harsh employment patterns in third world countries, it seems that the customer base is captivated by the love of affordable and cheap fashion.
The British Channel 4 investigation on Shein:
'You can't finish SHEIN, like you can't finish TikTok.'
It's had a meteoric rise, but what's behind the success?
@ImaniAmrani reveals the truth about fast fashion giant SHEIN in #Untold.
pic.twitter.com/gebRtHAR8O
— Channel 4 (@Channel4) October 18, 2022
Since the publication of the investigation, voices have been raised calling for abandoning the purchase through the popular site, whose success has gained momentum thanks to social networks, such as Instagram and Tiktok.
In response to the investigation, Shein stated that they are "very concerned about the claims presented by Channel 4. We are making sure to improve the code of conduct and employment conditions in the partner factories."
The company said it requested specific information from the television network and that it would "terminate partnerships that do not meet our standards."
It was also stated: "We believe it is our responsibility to build a future of fashion that will be equal for all, while accelerating solutions to reduce textile waste. We call on our community to mobilize and keep clothes they owned by selling them, and not throwing them in the trash. We believe that repurchasing can become the norm the new in our industry".
Female workers in a clothing factory in Asia (archive), photo: Getty Images
negative environmental impact
On the one hand, the company's business model is based on the production of thousands of low-cost items that many buyers get rid of after a few months, and on the other hand, Shein is trying to go with a "green approach", which preserves the environment through a new second-hand pilot.
In the environmental parlance, this is called "green washing", meaning an attempt to come out positive in the face of suppressing the negative aspects of the platform.
This year, Shein opened its largest distribution center in Indiana, USA. In its latest funding round, the company was valued at about $100 billion. Last year, it overtook Zara and H&M in sales across the US.
The company's response:
pic.twitter.com/vV7wj5j00U
— SHEIN (@SHEIN_Official) October 17, 2022
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