A Deep Dive Into Shein: Part 4
- Zevez Zalay
- Nov 17, 2025
- 7 min read
Varying opinions on Shein highlight the brand’s curated strengths and shine a light on its areas for improvement
Zevez Zalay
November 17th, 2025, 9:45 pm ET
Related Topics
Shein, fast fashion, overconsumption, overconsumption glamorization, capitalism, China, Kenya, landfills, water pollution, carbon emissions, Shein hauls, human rights, climate change, greenwashing, Xu Yangtian, textile waste, textile pollution, micro influencers, eCommerce algorithms, online retail, women’s fashion
Despite the controversial responses from Shein and the mysterious persona of Xu Yangtian, people truly bought into the algorithmic genius that started with the original founding team. When you visit the Shein site, you are approached with special tailored deals, and for those who are repeat buyers, there is only more in store. Shein makes the incentives of being a loyal customer crystal clear: “The more you buy, the better deals you get,” which is why many influencers started repping for the brand online during the rapid growth of TikTok (Roberts, 2022).
Shein "hauls"
The art of “Shein hauls” is one of the fast-fashion giant’s many ways to keep consumers locked into the cycle of over consumption–and I hate to admit, but their strategy is genius. Instead of shelling out more marketing funds to partner with celebrities or popular influencers, they pay less to collaborate with micro-influencers, those who tend to have between 1K - 100K followers (Hawley & Ismail, 2024). Micro-influencers tend to be more trusted as well, as viewers believe they aren’t doing deals for the large amounts of sponsorship money, and tend to give their honest opinions on each of their products (Roberts, 2022). In addition to this, these micro influencers match Shein’s target audience, which tends to be middle-class white women in their 20s and 30s (Roberts, 2022). Thus, consumers see themselves in the micro-influencers and trust them more because of it. Shein “hauls” consist of these micro-influencers unboxing large shipments of Shein bags, reviewing the look of each item, sharing how affordable each piece is, and adding a 15% discount code on top of the already low price (Roberts, 2022). The entry friction to purchase is extremely low, making buyers susceptible to large quantities of impulsive buying. This is exactly what Shein wants, and they make new styles every day just to keep things fresh if you decide you want to use a different discount code tomorrow.
Many of these micro-influencers, like Jenni N feel that sustainable fashion is not affordable for everyone, thus they justify buying large quantities of garments from Shein’s site, as they feel they don’t have enough disposable income to purchase from higher quality brands or designers (Roberts, 2022). While I can understand the rough logic of this argument, it doesn’t feel like it's justifying the affordability of Shein’s clothing, but rather the convenience. Buyers want to go online from the comfort of their homes and get the latest trendy pieces rather than trying out other affordable alternatives to fashion, such as thrifting, upcycling, or clothing swaps, as there is more of a time investment involved.
In addition to the convenience aspect of Shein’s products and business strategy, I feel there is an element of habit that is linked to behaviors many of us experienced during the pandemic. There were many things to do to pass the time, and for a lot of us, shopping was the way that we were able to connect with the outside world and have some fun in the process. According to psychologist Susan Albers, PsyD, at ClevelandClinic.org, there are many hormones that are released through the act of purchase, such as serotonin, dopamine, and endorphins (Albers, 2024). In addition to this, online shopping in particular has the unique effect of unpredictability, as we aren’t sure exactly when a package will arrive, or when we do, the effect of anticipation is increased–both of these aspects increase our excitement and what emotions we associate with online shopping (Albers, 2024).
The environmental advocates
While many consumers get joy from Shein’s low prices and 10,000 new styles every day (Kitajima Mulkey & Grist, 2024), not everyone agrees with the impact it has on the environment. From articles online about the environmental impacts that polyester has to adding microplastics to the ocean (Sustainable Jungle, 2024; Kitajima Mulkey & Grist, 2024) to micro-influencers like millkozak making reels showing visuals showing the pollution that Shein contributes to and making statements like, “Stop glamorizing overconsumption. SHEIN is the #️⃣1️⃣ fashion polluter on the planet — dropping 6,000 new styles every day made from toxic synthetics and underpaid labor. And every ‘haul’ turns that destruction into aesthetics.” (milakozak, 2025). Thus, not only are these environmental activities against Shein and its practices, but there is almost a sense of retaliation against those who engage in Shein hauls, as there is an element of ignorance or dissociative justification for promoting the brand.
I have varying opinions on the response of individuals like milakozak. On one hand, I think they are more informed or conscious consumers. They are ensuring that their purchases are yielding a lower carbon footprint than the convenient Shein cardigans they could be ordering. However, to lash out at those who are purchasing for convenience on Shein’s website only creates more of a divide and misunderstanding between the varying opinions of the brand. As those who are trying to advocate for the environment bring a stakeholder, we have to ask ourselves:
Is my response causing harm or limiting the open-mindedness of someone else by putting them on the defensive?
What is the root cause of the issue I am advocating for?
How can I lead by example and show others that the alternatives aren’t as scary as they may seem?
How do I give space for those who are directly affected to speak up?
While there is logic to the upset of the individuals who are more aware of the human rights violations within Shein’s supply chain, and the enormous amounts of land and ocean pollution caused by their textile waste, it can come across as noise to others. When we advocate or protest for something and we want others to hear us, we have to go about it with a clear strategy, thus leading with actions over loud captions on a social media post. This is not a crazy standard either; many creators like Cinthia Lin on YouTube collaborated with someone in the Guangzhou area to get her own secret footage of Shein’s factories (Lin, 2025). Additionally, she also gave the chance for that person to share their direct experience on the matter; sharing thoughts of how grueling the hours are, and how all the other workers were completely desensitized to their conditions were perspectives that even through all this research on Shein, I wasn’t able to get outside of Lin’s video. For those who are less aware of the conditions, deeper, well-thought-out advocacy rather than spreading blame is what I think can help people make a switch, boycott, and make a statement to companies like Shein that they once loved.
ABC News Australia
ABC Australia goes further on the argument against Shein as they go over several fines that Italy and France imposed upon the country for ethical concerns regarding false advertising through greenwashing and the extensive use of data (ABC Australia, 2025). From their reports, Italy fined Shein $1.7 million for greenwashing, which gets dwarfed by France’s $260 million fine for extensive data use on unknowing consumers (ABC Australia, 2025). Italy’s case is what I found especially interesting, as it gives us some more insight into Shein’s collection known as “Evolushein,” which claimed that the items that were tarnished after use would be able to be recycled afterwards–similar to IKEA’s goal towards a circular product cycle. However, it turns out the products were still going directly to landfills in places like Kenya; thus, the whole campaign gave the wrong impression to consumers who thought they were doing the right thing (ABC Australia, 2025).
In addition to mentioning the fines, one of the reporters shuts down the cost of living argument made by many influencers continuing to do “Shein hauls” and suggests alternatives consumers to consider, which were almost identical to my aforementioned suggestions, those being shopping second hand, clothing banks in Australia, and clothing swaps instead of continuing to fuel Shein’s unethical practice (ABC Australia, 2025).
While nothing was mentioned about the labor practices in Shein’s supply chain, they mentioned some more unique environmental and even health concerns when it comes to purchasing fast-fashion clothing, like Shein’s. Rather than detailing polyester and plastic materials contaminating water, the news network actually goes over how many products have been seen to contain 20 times the safe amount of lead present in cheaper garments. This, in particular, is unsafe for parents purchasing their toddlers fast-fashion products as these contaminants would be in direct contact with the skin, and are damaging to brain development (ABS Australia, 2025).
For such a short news segment, I think the channel actually covered quite a bit of information on the topic, and included arguments that I have not heard before–such as the lead percentage present in certain garments, and the scandal with Shein’s greenwashing through their “Evolushein” line. I think many consumers are going to find it hard to close the gap of proximity to the struggles that factory workers in Shein’s production line face, or to shave down the temporal immediacy of the effects that Shein has on the environment and their contribution to climate change. However, I think consumers will connect more to something that directly affects them, such as the lead argument or the idea that they have been deceived by the company through false advertising. So, while I would have loved to hear more regarding their thoughts and cases for the company’s human rights violations, their insights were fresh and brought a different perspective to the table that could resonate with people’s current level of ethical standing.
Despite Shein not listening to their consumers or media outlets like ABC Australia’s concerns, in the next and final part of “A Deep Dive Into Shein,” we will be looking at what the company can focus on improving in the future. We will be breaking down what ethical lenses the company should focus on, strategies they can use, questions top executives at the company should ask themselves, and potential actions they can take or add to their company policies.
Resources
ABC Australia. YouTube. (2025). [Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulPLn-GuRd8
CMSWire. (n.d.). Social media influencers: Mega, macro, micro, or nano? https://www.cmswire.com/digital-marketing/social-media-influencers-mega-macro-micro-or-nano/
Jennii N. (2022). First SHEIN try-on haul part 1 | +50 items | Customs + … [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WROAzMA3v_U
Kitajima Mulkey, S., & Grist. (2024, September). SHEIN is officially the biggest polluter in fast fashion—AI is making things worse. Yale Climate Connections. https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2024/09/shein-is-officially-the-biggest-polluter-in-fast-fashion-ai-is-making-things-worse/
Lin, C. [Cinthia Lin]. (2025, April 19). Inside SHEIN’s factory village [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd228YQPn-0
Milakozak. (2024). [Reel]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQEu8DqkVvj/
Portogallo, G. [@geeportogallo]. (2022, October 13). [Video]. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@geeportogallo/video/7155426753698221318
Roberts, A. [Prime Video]. (2022). Inside the SHEIN machine [Film]. https://www.primevideo.com/region/na/detail/Inside-the-Shein-Machine/0Q4S1LAZ7XZCD9MTW6Q8J1XEY4
Sustainable Jungle. (2024). The impact of SHEIN fast fashion [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zu_ZPGE6AuU
This was a really interesting post. I thought your breakdown of Shein's use of micro influencers and the rise of 'hauls' normalizing overconsumption. I also appreciated how you brought in the voices of environmental advocates like milakozak, who pushed back against glamorizing overconsumption, and the contrast with ABC Australia's reporting on Shein's greenwashing fines and even the discovery of lead in some clothing. These examples really highlight how the brand's success comes at the expense of both the environment and consumer safety.
I think that this post is well put together, and it clearly explains each part of Shein’s strategy as well as the reactions from certain groups. I like how you kept neutral and balanced both sides of the people defending Shein for convenience and affordability, and the people calling out the harm. The ABC Australia section was also really interesting, and you did a great job connecting their reporting to the issue.