How Much is a $7 Shein Crop Top Truly Worth?

Shein continues to violate their human rights laws and environmental policies in 2025

Zevez Zalay 

November 8th, 2025, 6:08 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, Chris Xu, textile waste, textile pollution, micro influencers, eCommerce algorithms, online retail, women’s fashion

Models at the Shein X 100K Challenge 2021 in Sun Valley, California. Photograph: Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for Shein

Prior to 2020, Shein was a brand that most of us had never heard of before. When we thought of “fast-fashion,” many of us would think of the big brick-and-mortar retailers that we would see in shopping malls, like American Eagle, Forever 21, H&M, Nordstrom, and Macy’s. However, the online-only fashion giant, Shein, went from the prom dress market to completely revolutionizing the fast-fashion industry (Roberts, 2022). Shein’s founder, Chris Xu, has a background and education, not in the fashion, retail, or business industry, but specifically in algorithms (Roberts, 2022). Thus, he applied his skills to women’s online fashion and changed online retail into a cheap, fast, and customized experience. 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). The innovative fast-fashion brands’ reputation has gone downhill fast, but they keep holding on. 

Shein "hauls"

YouTuber Jennii N celebrating 7,000 followers surrounded by a Shein haul of over 50 items. Credit: Jennii N

Shein “hauls” are 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 dumping tons of Shein bags from large shipping boxes, reviewing the look of each item, sharing how cheap 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.

Human rights violations

So how does Shein make so many styles per day? Ally Roberts' documentary called Inside the Shein Machine and other content creators like Cinthia Lin have made video essays with exclusive factory footage of the working conditions in Shein village in Guangzhou, China (Lin, 2025; Roberts, 2022). Workers are subjected to 12 -to 18-hour days, are paid as little as 0.14 cents per item completed, are given penalties if mistakes are made, unsafe working conditions, and are subjected to verbal and physical violence (Lin, 2025; Roberts, 2022). Many of these actions aren’t even legal within China, such as not having a single day off every month, let alone Shein’s code of conduct they push out for good public relations (Roberts, 2022). So, on the American side of things, it's great to doom-scroll on Shein’s eCommerce website and find new things that you didn’t get to see the day before, but it's not magic at play; someone is suffering for the kindness towards our wallets. With more video evidence and talk about the company, some creators, such as geeportogallo on TikTok, decided to stop running sponsored videos for the brand until there’s proof that they are abiding by Chinese labor laws and their company codes of conduct (geeportogallo, 2022). After Roberts' documentary aired and shocked many consumers in the United Kingdom and the United States, Shein admitted to the illegal working conditions and issued a 12 million pound investment into hundreds of its source factories (The Guardian, 2022). They even put out a “Human Rights Policy” in April of 2024, stating:

SHEIN is dedicated to operating in a responsible and ethical manner. We have aligned our Human Rights Policy (the “Policy”) with the international principles described in the United Nations’ Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR), the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work,  as well as with the laws and requirements established in the countries where SHEIN and our suppliers operate.

The Human Rights Policy applies to the entire SHEIN Group and its employees, and also covers any person associated with the company. (Shein, 2024)

To add insult to injury, the commitments they made were barely dipping their toes into the water by making promises not to employ children or prisoners, and making sure there are “safe” working conditions (Shein, 2024). To make things easier on themselves, they decided to omit what they consider to be “safe” working conditions to avoid any harsh criticism from the public. However, many creators like Cinthia Lin were quick to prove that those spending dollars did not make a difference towards their views on human rights within their company through new lines of video footage showing the brand hasn’t made an inch of effort regarding their newfound “commitments to human rights” (Lin, 2025). For many of us, it is easy not to want to put someone through psychological and physical harm, but for others, the weight of a couple extra million dollars a year to their paycheck is too heavy to pass up–with CEO Chris Xu’s network being estimated at 6 billion (Roberts, 2022).

Environmental impacts

A perfect meal for CEO Chris Xu is a mixture of human rights violations and some environmental pollution for dessert. With their emissions jumping hurdles from 2022 to 2023, and 16.7 million total metric tons of carbon dioxide emitted in 2023 alone (Kitajima Mulkey & Grist, 2024), their promises of reducing emissions by 25% - 42% by 2030 are looking grim (Kitajima Mulkey & Grist, 2024; Shein, 2024). While the company tried to excuse the increase in emissions because of their rapid growth, it doesn’t mean much when other fast fashion giants like Nike were able to grow at a similar rate without an increase to their emissions at all (Kitajima Mulkey & Grist, 2024). 

As Shein items are made so rapidly in the Shein villages in China, none of their items are meant to make it past one or two wears, with many of them breaking in some way past the third try on (Roberts, 2022). This works out great for CEO Xu as it gets people back to the Shein site to snatch up more deals and to see the new styles of the day. So where do these broken items end up? Even if the items are returned to Shein, it is cheaper for them to throw the items out for you than to put them back into circulation (Williams, 2022).  Thus, roughly 2,150 items are thrown out by Americans alone every second, whether you are putting your out-of-style items into the bin yourself or not (Bloomberg, 2022). The Bloomberg also offers an interactive aspect to the statistic by showing you how many articles of clothing have been added to landfills around the world just during the time you are browsing their site. I highly recommend checking it out through the link below: Bloomberg: The Global Glut of Clothing is an Environmental Crisis

People cherry-picking pieces of trash in front of an operating excavator in Kenya. “The fashion industry alone is worth billions – and is known for being harmful to the planet. CMF/CUK: Credit: The New York Post

Many of these articles of clothing are ending up in communities in third-world countries like Kenya (Changing Markets, 2023). With much of the textile waste being made from fabrics that are derived from fossil fuels, such as polyester, they go further by contaminating the local water and the surrounding oceans' marine life via microplastics soaking through (Roberts, 2022; Kato, 2023). Therefore, Kenyans and other countries have to combat the smell, land pollution, and water pollution within their communities, all without their consent to dump waste there. In response to the emissions created by the fast-fashion giant, Shein is implementing new energy vehicles to help offset the environmental problems they are creating (Shein, 2025). Which makes a lot of sense as an electric vehicle driving around in Guangzhou, China, is going to help the Kenyans who can no longer get to their grandmother’s house without stepping in waste. With 10% of carbon emissions coming from fast-fashion retailers like Shein, a couple of new cars isn’t going to do much for the environment in the grand scheme of things (Bloomberg, 2022). What those new energy vehicles are really doing for Shein is giving reporters something positive to say about the company, and prepping them to be in compliance with future required green regulations. 

What can be done?

Outside of consumers boycotting fast-fashion, the leaders at Shein have a lot to learn about empathy, as it is clear that it has been hard for them to distinguish what will actually help the people they are harming versus what benefits them as a company. Thus, there will be a strong emphasis on a virtue-centric framework, as much of their past actions are evident of a lack of virtuous character in their executives, and a disconnect from basic universally accepted morals. For those who are in places of power to propose and enforce green and human rights initiatives, rather than having content creators bring an issue to your attention, or finding out about it through an internal audit, finding out firsthand through a brief experience. Many great managers and transformational leaders will engage in “on the floor” management, which involves said person being present with those they are employing and possibly helping or engaging in the work they are doing. This gives managers a chance to see how they can do better, and to better understand their purpose at a company. These policymakers need to ignite the fire for change by witnessing and experiencing the harm they are causing to the planet. Seeing workers in Guangzhou up until 3:00 a.m. trimming the ends on their 456th garment of the day (Roberts, 2022), or to witness a Kenyan mother walk her child to school while her feet soak into the trash below her. Then there will be a higher chance for the immediate need for change to sink in, and for ideas more innovative than electric cars to come about. Some questions for Shein executives and leaders to ask themselves to start the shift towards an ethical mindset can be some of the following:

• Have I ever worked 75-hour weeks without days off for months at a time?

• Do my workers have access to higher education? Thus, giving them an opportunity to improve the quality of life, or move on from the meager pay in the factories.

• Would I want to wear clothing of the same quality as what we sell every day? Would you gift it to someone with pride?

• What environmental factors do you take for granted every day? How much money would it take for you to agree to live in Kenya for one day?

• Is paying someone slightly above minimum wage in a foreign country, where minimum wage is not livable or ethical, even though it is legal?

• Is advertising that emissions will be lowered without the numbers to prove that those goals are being achieved fair to our shareholders, customers, and other stakeholders?

• What are the roots of the human rights/environmental issues? How can our brand make a bold decision to ignite change to those roots?

• Do I want my legacy to be riddled with borderline slavery and environmental waste that will affect my grandchildren?

Change for Shein is stuck in the minds of corporate workers and their organizational culture. To shift towards a brighter future for the company, to avoid a complete refresh in corporate workers or a culture wipe, I believe change has to start with individual reflection. The actions being made are very far removed from the effects that are piling around them. Temporal immediacy and proximity are key to helping the connection between action and consequence start to emerge. A huge portion of what used to be diehard supporters of the brand has deeply recognized the need for change, boycotted, and shared their thoughts on the matter. What needs to happen now is for the company itself to do the same, as widely-accepted international law preventing such human rights and environmental violations is improbable even in the distant future. Action needs to hold ethical weight, and responsibility needs to be taken further than a PR statement.

Resources

Lin, C. [Cinthia Lin]. (2025, April 19). Inside SHEIN’s factory village [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd228YQPn-0 YouTube+1

Sustainable Jungle. (2024). The impact of SHEIN fast fashion [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zu_ZPGE6AuU YouTube

Jennii N. (2022). First SHEIN try-on haul part 1 | +50 Items | Customs + … [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WROAzMA3v_U YouTube

Milakozak. (2024). [Reel]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQEu8DqkVvj/ instagram.com

Portogallo, G. [@geeportogallo]. (2022, October 13). [Video]. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@geeportogallo/video/7155426753698221318 cliffsnotes.com

Yale Climate Connections. (2024, September). SHEIN is officially the biggest polluter in fast fashion—AI is making things worse. https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2024/09/shein-is-officially-the-biggest-polluter-in-fast-fashion-ai-is-making-things-worse/

Bloomberg News. (2022). The fashion industry’s environmental impact. Bloomberg. https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2022-fashion-industry-environmental-impact/?embedded-checkout=true

The New York Post. (2023, February 16). Mountains of trashed trendy clothes overflow landfills, hurt environment: report. https://nypost.com/2023/02/16/mountains-of-trashed-trendy-clothes-overflow-landfills-hurt-environment-report/

The Guardian. (2022, April 10). SHEIN: The unacceptable face of throwaway fast fashion. https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2022/apr/10/shein-the-unacceptable-face-of-throwaway-fast-fashion

Changing Markets Foundation. (2023). Trashion: The stealth export of waste plastic clothes to Kenya. https://changingmarkets.org/report/trashion-the-stealth-export-of-waste-plastic-clothes-to-kenya/

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/

SHEIN Group. (n.d.). Human rights policy. https://www.sheingroup.com/human-rights-policy-2/

SHEIN Group. (2024, June 14). SHEIN 2024 sustainability and social impact report. https://www.sheingroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/SHEIN-2024-Sustainability-and-Social-Impact-Report-Final-14-June.pdf

SHEIN Group. (n.d.). SHEIN advances efforts to lower supply chain emissions and divert waste from landfill. https://www.sheingroup.com/protecting-the-environment/planet/shein-advances-efforts-to-lower-supply-chain-emissions-and-divert-waste-from-landfill/

Roberts A. [Prime Video]. (2022). Inside the SHEIN Machine [Film]. https://www.primevideo.com/region/na/detail/Inside-the-Shein-Machine/0Q4S1LAZ7XZCD9MTW6Q8J1XEY4?ref_=atv_unknown