Late last week, the Financial Conduct Authority gave approval to Shein’s efforts to list on the London Stock Exchange. Shein, known for influencer “haul” videos, has also repeatedly hit the headlines for its negative environmental impacts and allegations of labour abuses, including forced labour, in its supply chains.
Shein’s visibility makes it a lightning rod for critiques of fast fashion, but it misses two key things. Firstly, the critiques of Shein don’t go far enough. Secondly, they miss the broader fast fashion problem and let many other businesses off the hook.
Shein: The picture of fast fashion’s darkest sides
Shein prides itself on its “on-demand” business model, which contributes to its success. Here, products are first tested in small batches, with rapid scaling up of production for popular items. However, this approach has significant negative impacts.
The environmental impact of the fast fashion model
According to an investigation by Rest of World, Shein added between 2,000 and 10,000 new styles to its app daily between July and December 2021. This relentless production pace comes with a heavy environmental cost, and we have not seen Shein take sufficient action to cut its global emissions and meet UN targets to help combat climate change. The mass production of cheap clothes also contributes to textile waste that ends up in landfills around the world. A truckload of rubbish is estimated to be dumped or burned every second. It is ironic, then, that Shein claims its model “minimises overproduction” and produces “less waste” while keeping prices low.
The human impact of the fast fashion model
Clothes are made by people. Rapid scale-ups and fast turnarounds to meet fleeting trends are made possible by forcing people to work in extreme conditions. In 2022, a Channel 4 documentary exposed troubling labour practices within Shein’s supply chain. Investigators revealed that workers were paid just £0.03 per item, worked 16+ hours daily, and had only one or no days off per month. Similarly, a BBC investigation found that employees were working 75-hour weeks, violating Chinese labour laws.
Shein attracts media attention
It’s no surprise that the company’s plans for an IPO on the London Stock Exchange raised eyebrows. Investors have reportedly raised concerns about being exposed to Shein and its “race to the bottom” approach. In June 2024, the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner (IASC) warned the UK Government and the Financial Conduct Authority that allowing Shein to list in London would signal a worrying prioritisation of business growth over human rights.
At a Parliamentary Committee hearing in January, Shein’s lawyer refused to answer questions about forced labour in the company’s supply chains from the UK Parliamentary Committee tasked with examining the Government’s Employment Rights Bill. Shein subsequently followed up in writing to the Committee. Following this, MPs urged the London Stock Exchange to ensure proper scrutiny of Shein’s labour practices.
However, while this focus on Shein helps some people understand poor business practices, it is only one example of a wider systemic failing that allows environmental damage and human rights harm to go unchecked.
The bigger issue: A damaging business model
Shein is often singled out as the company that has pushed the fast fashion model to extremes. However, exploitative and extractive business practices existed before Shein and are common in many companies. The fast fashion business model is a systemic problem and extends beyond a single brand. While we should be horrified at Shein’s excesses, we must focus on pushing for stronger laws and raising business standards across the board.
Exploitation of labour and consumers
Fast fashion thrives on low production costs, achieved by driving down wages and hiding the true cost of garments. Consumers are encouraged to see clothing as disposable, perpetuating cycles of overproduction, waste and low wages. We’re trained to think that clothes should be cheap and throwaway rather than priced fairly and made to last longer.
But driving down wages means that most ordinary workers are paid less and cannot afford better-made goods, and so the cycle continues. As the famous Sam Vimes’s “Boots” Theory of Socio-economic Unfairness (from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series) goes “But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that’d still be keeping his feet dry in ten years’ time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.”
The risk of Uyghur forced labour in global supply chains
To sustain itself, the fast fashion industry exerts ever more downward pressure on labour costs, thereby increasing exploitation. Its heavy reliance on complex supply chains often obscures the unethical practices employed. A report from Sheffield Hallam University revealed that numerous international brands, including UK-based companies, likely source materials made with Uyghur forced labour in China. As a Coalition to End Forced Labour in the Uyghur Region member, Anti-Slavery International calls for government action to hold companies accountable for their supply chains. Regarding new listings to the London Stock Exchange, the FCA relies on national legislation as a guide for its scrutiny. If the UK had stronger laws on human rights abuses, a company linked with this harm should not be able to pass FCA scrutiny.
What needs to change?
Addressing these issues requires more than corporate promises—it demands legislation from governments that compels action from businesses.
The UK must introduce mandatory human rights and environmental legislation
With new laws to protect people from modern slavery, including forced labour, in supply chains in the USA and EU, the UK is lagging behind in its efforts to end modern slavery. The UK must follow suit and introduce stronger laws.
We are urging the UK Government to introduce a Business, Human Rights, and Environment Act, to compel businesses to do human rights and environmental due diligence alongside import controls. Without these critical laws, the UK will continue to fail workers and be complicit in supporting forced labour through the goods it imports. Crucially, laws that would penalise companies for failing to address forced labour in their supply chains, would prevent companies like Shein from listing on the London Stock Exchange. We need strong legislation and effective enforcement mechanisms to ensure this isn’t happening and to ensure victims of labour exploitation have access to justice and remedy.
These laws would also help to assure consumers that their purchases are free from forced labour and prevent the UK from becoming a dumping ground for goods tainted by exploitation.
Finally, businesses should not gain a competitive advantage through exploitation. By mandating better company practices, the Government can create an environment where eradicating exploitation benefits companies equally.
Moving forward
Fast fashion and cheap clothing have hidden costs, and exploited workers and the environment bear the brunt.
Exploitative models are almost impossible to compete with, and companies trying to do the right thing face an increasingly uneven playing field. The UK must urgently introduce stronger laws, otherwise we will continue to see companies disregarding human rights and profiting from forced labour. Shein has become the face of these issues, we must not lose sight of the broader systemic challenges.
As consumers, we deserve to know where and under what conditions our clothes are produced. As advocates, we can call on governments to act. Let us push for a fashion industry that respects human rights and the planet:
Call for a Business, Human Rights and Environment Act
Sign here if you believe that businesses should be compelled to clean up their act.