The Story of Shein

Behind all these popular videos about "Shein haul," "Shein reviews," "Shein try on" and "Shein unboxing" on TikTok, what is Shein, and why is it so successful? What's going on with those child labor allegations and controversies? What's the truth about this mysterious and controversial multibillion-dollar Chinese fashion company? How did Shein begin?
“Shein” (pronounced Shee-in) is the largest fast-fashion retailer that many have never heard of. In just a few years, the Chinese brand has become a one-stop shop for impossibly cheap, variegated, and high quality women’s apparel. Every day, over 5,000 new items appear on their site. And an army of influencers as well as high-profile celebrities such as Katy Perry and Lil Nas X have joined the Shein ecosystem. Last year, it sold nearly $10 billion worth of apparel, which was nearly half of the leader Inditex, Zara’s parent company. But even as it’s taken off among Gen Zers and the fashion industry, the brand is practically a black box for media and investors.
Shein’s founder Xu Yangtian had long been an expert in search engine optimization and exports. In 2008, he decided to try his luck at his own export venture, picking a domain that he found decent success with on a search page: SheInside.com. In 2015, Xu shortened the company name to Shein. He hired designers. He placed his own factory orders and built up his own clothing and production line. And in the process, Shein's customer-to-manufacture (C2M) model was working. They push anything and everything out, then analyze the buying patterns to tailor their subsequent products.
And besides its headquarters in Nanjing, the company has an office in Guangzhou, the southern industrial hub known for its garment manufacturing. Proximity to the industrial heartland allows Shein to spot trends and source them faster than most overseas competitors.
But the company’s tactic of flooding the market with heaps of new products at rock-bottom prices is not without risk. For the past few years, the Chinese company has also been accused of cultural insensitivity and allegedly unethical practices like child labor. However, despite various allegations, for the time being, there’s no other evidence to confirm or deny the accusations about its labor choices.
You can't understand the world without understanding China. SupChina will take you there.
Explainer video content:
0:00 - Shein's popularity on social media
0:51 - Shein's mysterious business profile
1:35 - Shein's origin story and its SEO-savvy founder
2:42 - Shein’s customer to manufacture model
3:45 - The dark side of Shein
4:52 - Is Shein destined for greatness?
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SupChina is a New York-based, China-focused news and education media company. We are entirely privately funded in the U.S. and our mission is to educate and engage Western audiences about China "beyond the headlines."

[@CloudX3r]

Shein is literally the most private company ever

[@hh0686]

Cuz the guy at the top wants to live and run the business peacefully without listening to evil voices and fake news like Donald Trump

[@espuelasadivino54]

@@hh0686 Shein belongs to the CCP The Chinese Communist Party. China’s government. Like Tik Tok.

[@espuelasadivino54]

Shein belongs to the CCP The Chinese Communist Party. China’s government. Like Tik Tok.

[@hh0686]

@@espuelasadivino54 so what if it belongs to China's government? Why do you bother with ownership? Jealous?

[@mihaelaene5141]

For a good reason, they are pretty shady and they know it

[@12137Marth]

Shein is sketchy as hell, but they're an eastern company. The swastika is a peaceful religious symbol within Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism, long before Hitler desecrated it 🤦🏻‍♀️

[@lealrandolf452]

Scientists found that a jacket for toddlers, purchased from Chinese retailer Shein, contained almost 20 times the amount of lead that Health Canada says is safe for children. A red purse, also purchased from Shein, had more than five times the threshold.

[@malikaivillatte9065]

Jesus

[@jeanabeana8818]

Whoa 😳 and as I read that I thought of the people who made the jackets and how they're constantly being exposed to that lead 😱

[@burlak3182]

any sources?

[@ASK-ko9qx]

Source trust me bro.

[@-Dragon-Master-]

sounds like a persanol problem to me bro

[@paolabueso]

Shein’s clothing and accessories have extremely high levels of dangerous chemicals that can cause serious long term health issues. This has been proven by scientists and the results appeared in a Canadian news report, one can search for it on KZbin. I think more awareness needs to be raised on the seriousness of this issue.

[@ScreamTatumRiley]

I think I saw that on EPISODE

[@Ari-ge5cp]

I super duper prone to get sick. I wear shien whenever I have the option to. Now that i know this..... i think ill just to to the goodwill.

[@harysastra]

if you don't like it...just don't buy it....mind your own business

[@Ari-ge5cp]

@@harysastra Right. To each their own. My cousin and I bought some fun dresses and accessories all for a great price from shien. Shien gives you the opportunity to dress fun, elegant, preppy and all within a budget.

[@Ari-ge5cp]

@@harysastra Are you the owner of the company? If so, please bring back the thank you hand bag!!!!! Thank you!! Oh and can you come out with a shoe line for girls?

[@AiraCamille]

I am wondering why there are more people who sell in the warehouses. They said the clothes were factory defects and being sold cheaply in bulk. Is Shein ok with that?

[@eev4489]

And that's my friend, is what I call a GREAT reporter! Nice job dude, super informative in a very smart way! =) 加油哈！

[@GloriousSimplicity]

Very informative and nicely done . Do you plan on producing content like this more frequently?

[@lealrandolf452]

SELLING TOXIC CLOTHING AND PROMOTED BY FAKE INFLUENCERS Scientists found that a jacket for toddlers, purchased from Chinese retailer Shein, contained almost 20 times the amount of lead that Health Canada says is safe for children. A red purse, also purchased from Shein, had more than five times the threshold.

[@shouqahmadalzaharni1808]

Im so thankful,I used your video to write an essay do not worry i put your name on it

[@brianryden7111]

Got a fucken Shien ad on this vid

[@sijinthomasdaniel8527]

Can you make a video on how this video was actually edited, animation and all?

[@naylafays]

THE WORKERS ARE IN DANGER

[@alicee4724]

Is there some sort of forced labor going on? Why are they in danger?

[@LilyMendoza19]

Thanks for this 🙌

[@hemchandvydarsu8567]

keep going nice content

[@miriamcarmona8223]

# love this Company

[@march1708]

Never heard of Shein

[@goddyfame3424]

Haters will always hate. I hate haters. Go SHEIN but show the fellas some love

[@AlrightFry]

I love how the narrator says pinduoduo, it's super cute.

[@aleynab8583]

I'm just like responsible for 5bn of its revenue

[@prologueofzinachia7123]

Last time, I encountered and discovered the SHEIN to collect some SHEIN clothing/accessory pictures from the website previously.

[@stqrri5379]

Wait, I was about to shop here, would it still be safe?

[@ww3icing476]

bababa, all bs. China e-com creation tons of unqualified and bad quality clothing. If you are in china you can return easily. Then ,these returned clothing would be resale by the salers. But plenty of this shity clothing evently have on place to go. And dumb rich buyer in the developed country would become the target customer. Shein make this clothing is too cheap to return ,and using the laziness and irration of those buyers, they can sale the products that on one would buy. And continue to make them. And thanks for the clothing most are all bad quality, unfit, unwearable,those who develop a habit buy clothes on shein,would find themselves spend more money than they used to be. And tons of clothing always look bad since the cutting is so wrong while weared by the buyer

[@Osheababa]

All i see is a company working hard to create a successful brand , and people try to tear it down. Great video

[@weick6754]

最好是吃Uber eat完 還有Shein新衣穿

[@jaketan224]

I suggest to you that go and study first. Study how e commerce business really works. Shein was using the data which their TikTok account recieved and they will decide which clothes design which they posted on TikTok and other Chinese fashion app will become trend and then once it became a trend, Shein order system will directly send the designs to their manufacturer for orders. Study so that you will know how e commerce business works.

[@fathimarukaiya1695]

I would really recommend buying jewels in shein there amazing😭

[@purpleapple8255]

Shitty clothes ,please don’t buy.

[@Abvgdejziklmnoprst]

Not all, i can say

[@myheartisinjapan3184]

@@Abvgdejziklmnoprst I agree. I just found them about six months ago. I’ve placed three orders, and loved everything I got, tbh. Fit well, actually seemed quite well made. Loved the fabric. Idk 🤷‍♀️.

[@bachehazara5009]

It's your opinion. I'll buy definitely from Shein ❤️

[@Ari-ge5cp]

@@bachehazara5009 me too! Affordable and I can buy extra clothes and not worry about going broke.

[@yuhperiodt4193]

@@Ari-ge5cp same I’m still buying

[@-Dragon-Master-]

ayo did he just say for womens apperal damn but i thought it said for men on my watch welp ig im gay now anyone free friday?

[@doanhdiep4019]

Please boycott this brand.

[@CloudX3r]

I personally think that boycotting the brand is too extreme......many people buy Shein because it's cheap and sells good enough clothes

[@emanuelcarvalho8510]

@@CloudX3r so....? your point?

[@hallezebrowski]

hell no

[@sherlocksmith5464]

有什么用呢，就好像天天说着抵制中国，还是天天跟中国贸易一样

[@tomr164]

decent quality? Hahahah

[@SangitA]

That fkin symbol is not swastika.. that is hooked cross. Both are different

[@maisaanmohamed1267]

Who cares as long as it's cheap and available and is unique I am sold

[@Field_of_daisies]

Well, fast fashion companies such as shein are high contributors to global climate issues, such as dumping unsold garments on big dumpingpiles in nature, and also using illegal labour to make thei clothing so cheap. Honestly if someone buys from shein because they have no other option due to financial reasons, I will never judge them. But the people who spend hundreds upon hundreds of dollars on fast fashion when they can easily buy sustainable alternatives are the people that ultimately contribute to the huge negative climate impact.