Super cheap garments that allow you to have a new outfit for every Soho sports Wednesday, or the ability to have enough jumpers so that you never have to turn up to lectures in the same one twice? It’s the dream for the trendy student on a budget. Yet it appears that anyone who subscribes to this way of filling their wardrobe is burying their head in the sand. It’s common knowledge that these ultra-fast fashion companies aren’t the best ethically, but what exactly are the gruesome details?
Channel 4’s new documentary Untold: Inside the Shein Machine reveals some horrific truths; “the shocking insight, workers in both factories worked 18 hours a day”. Not only these atrociously long working days, but “workers were given only one day off per month”. Clearly this is a complete violation of labour laws: in addition to this, “workers in one factory earned a base salary of 4,000 yuan (approximately £492) per month to make 500 pieces of clothing per day”. Let’s do the maths: £492 a month is £16.40 day, and on the basis that workers have to make 500 pieces a day, that’s 3p an item. Not good. Plus “[i]f workers made a mistake on an item of clothing, they were penalised two-thirds of their daily wage”, which is essentially a form of modern-day slavery. All in all, it’s pretty disgusting.
Honestly, I highly doubt this is much of a surprise for anyone. So why are Shein such a booming business? The first obvious factor is their cheap prices.
With the cost-of-living crisis, many people’s purses are getting tighter, and they are looking to cheap alternatives for their wardrobe fix.
An overused response to this is charity or vintage shops, or online second-hand sites such as Vinted or Depop. It is infinitely easier said than done to use these for substitutes to Shein. Realistically, it takes a lot of time and effort to find the perfect piece in these shops in comparison to a quick three clicks on Shein. As students, we don’t have to time to spend 3 hours on Depop when we have an essay due in and could get the same thing on PrettyLittleThing in five minutes. What’s more, there’s the gentrification of second-hand shops and selling sites, made trendy by privileged people… completely ironic. It’s these people with money who buy everything affordable from these sites, and consequently make them inaccessible for those with a smaller budget who need them more. It’s this pattern of gentrification that pushes people towards brands like Shein. Countless second-hand pieces which are labelled as ‘vintage’ then sky-rocket in price because they’re coming back into fashion, taking these affordable clothes away from those in need it most. So, unless you’re willing to give up ease and a lot of your time, these so-called ‘affordable’ alternatives aren’t actually as great as they seem.
Furthermore, we have to blame the influencer, celebrity culture that social media perpetrates. If Molly Mae and Olivia Neill have a new outfit everyday, why shouldn’t I? There is a real temptation to lose love for piece you’ve posted on Instagram because ‘everyone’s already seen it’. Truthfully, the consumerist nature of the modern fashion scene can only be broken if individuals start to break their habits of shopping ultra-cheap fast-fashion; so invest more in longer lasting pieces that are worth their price. A top-tip is when buying something, can you create at least three outfits with this new piece with things that are already in your wardrobe? If not, you’ll probably wear it once and never again. Companies like Shein and Boohoo are relying on your consumerist need to have a ‘rolling wardrobe’, and it’s on the individual to be content with outfit repeating a few times – it’s no fashion crime!
Lastly, we have to admit that a major feature fuelling our addiction is the lack of immediate consequences for us as buyers. We don’t personally know the horrendously underpaid workers, we can’t see the labour abuse they suffer, we don’t have to walk past the polluted rivers that the materials for these clothes cause.
As a student, it is easy to ignore the consequences of our actions because they’re so far away that we can diminish them in our minds.
It is the work of documentaries, such as the new Channel 4 one, that are needed to remind us of the costs of our shopping habits.
Are we really to blame then? In my opinion, the blame is 50/50. Yes, the governments should be doing more to tackle violations of labour laws, more to protect our environment from fast-fashion, more to keep the price of second-hand clothing more accessible. But we must also accept some responsibility: quit the impulse to buy a new outfit for every occasion and chose durable pieces. Most importantly, stop burying your head in the sand.