Chinese fast fashion giant Shein denies low prices due to forced labour
- The Singapore-based firm’s strategy chief Peter Pernot-Day said Shein is ‘an on-demand manufacturer … the global pioneer of this technology’
- With 11,000 employees worldwide and counting, Shein has big plans for further expansion
Chinese cut-price fast-fashion giant Shein defended its business model in an interview with AFP, saying demand-based production accounted for its low prices and not forced or cheap labour.
Founded in China in 2008, Shein has swiftly claimed a top place in the global fast-fashion marketplace, offering young social-media-savvy customers low-priced collections that turn over at a steady clip.
The Singapore-based firm’s strategy chief Peter Pernot-Day told AFP that Shein is “an on-demand manufacturer … the global pioneer of this technology” during a visit to Paris to attend the opening of a Shein pop-up store.
Testing products with a small run and spooling up production if there was demand meant Shein has eliminated “inventory risk”, Pernot-Day said, wiping out “the most significant component of garment cost”.
Shein’s sales rose 60 per cent in 2021 to US$16 billion worldwide, Bloomberg reported – just behind Swedish high-street name H&M.