by There is something unsettling about fast fashion and the leisure culture it has created. Dirt-free prices aren’t the only reason the clothes our kids walk around in have a short shelf life. Aggressive social media campaigns that have become the industry’s main marketing tool encourage teenagers to embrace waste.
Open Tik-Tik or Instagram and a whole generation of young people are implicitly being taught that it’s okay to wear something for a few weeks then toss it and move on to the next trend because it only costs a few quid . Worse, perhaps, a legion of empty z-list celebrities are getting rich by bombarding gullible shoppers with this toxic message.
Many of those who let themselves in don’t know their dirty secret, which is that it’s almost impossible to make a £3 t-shirt without someone or something paying a high price somewhere else – whether he or she is an environmental influence. the often harsh conditions found in the factories where the clothes are produced. Others are happy to ignore it in their quest to be hip and cool.
So fast fashion, of the kind pioneered by China’s Shen, is just a more extreme version of this broken model. So the idea that the company’s decision to ditch New York and seek a stock market float in London is a major coup for Britain. The Square Mile may be in dire need of a boost but surely it’s not that desperate yet?
It is a story that the new Labor government should reject out of hand, especially if the party’s attempt to portray itself as on the workers’ side is anything to go by.
It was only a few weeks ago that Keir Starmer was up in Glasgow telling people about the so-called six steps to change, one of which is to make paid work a “new market for working people”.
It represents “the biggest leveling-up of workers’ rights in a generation”: no more zero-hours contracts or so-called “fire and hire” policies, plus a “real living wage” because “work requires dignity and respect d ‘economic growth. ,” the Labor leader promised.
In that case, Shein’s fast-charging fashion juggernaut seems entirely in line with Starmer’s vision of what modern Britain should stand for. Of course, the Government does not directly control the stock market but it certainly has a big impact on who we salute as a country and the message we want to convey to the rest of the world.
Shein liked very little. An investigation by the Swiss campaign group Public Eye in 2021 found evidence that staff were subject to 75-hour weeks at Shein’s Chinese factories. Some employees were working three shifts a day with only one day off a week, often in unsafe conditions, he said. The company promised to conduct a “targeted investigation” into the allegations.
Then, last autumn, a Channel 4 documentary reported that some Shein factory workers earned an average of £19 for a typical 18-hour shift, produced hundreds of items a day, and were not there to go home until they were finished. In some cases, wages were withheld and terminated. In response, Shein pledged to invest $15m (£11.8m) to improve standards.
Meanwhile, its consumption of virgin polyester and oil emits the same amount of CO2 as about 180 coal-fired power plants each year, according to Synthetics Anonymous 2.0, a report published on fashion sustainability.
Shein may feel she is being unfairly targeted when many of the claims she faced have been dropped by rivals including British chain Boohoo. However, the difference is that because it is British, a powerful combination of shareholders, MPs, and non-governmental organizations is able to put intense pressure on the company to improve standards.
Any suggestion that a private Chinese retailer would be subject to the same lobbying from Beijing, a regime with an appalling human rights record, or that Western campaigners would have the same influence over Shein’s practices, is simply ludicrous.
Shein has gone to great lengths to convince the world that it is not a Chinese company, including moving its headquarters to Singapore in 2021. However, changing domicile does not change the facts. This is an organization founded by Chris Xu, a Chinese entrepreneur, in Nanjing, China, and relies on thousands of Chinese third-party manufacturers for its goods. But the real giveaway is surely the fact that Shein needs permission from Beijing regulators to list his shares in London.
Meanwhile, Shein’s cheerleaders seem to be willfully overlooking another important point, which is that the reason management wants to come to the UK is not because London is more attractive as a place to raise capital. but because of the questions and criticisms she faces. America. If a company feels real audit so uncomfortable, isn’t that a big red flag in itself?
It is a sign of how desperate the situation is in London that the red carpet is being rolled out for Shein. If Labour’s pledge to put “fairness and honesty” at the heart of the next government means anything, it should make it clear that a company with a track record is not welcome here.
