Shein Wants to Go Green. Here’s How It Plans to Do it.
Shein wants to promote more sustainable materials. That’s the stated desire, in any case, of EvoluShein by Design, the e-tail juggernaut’s newly unveiled initiative to drive more responsible and circular practices as its production footprint spreads beyond China to Brazil and potentially Mexico.
It could also double as a pointed riposte at its legion of critics, who accuse Shein of driving unfair labor conditions and environmental degradation with its ceaseless churn of $5 bikini tops and $10 dresses, most of them derived from fossil fuels. Despite branching out into other categories, including electronics and home appliances, fashion still appears to be Shein’s raison d’etre—one that it appears especially keen to recast as an instrument of good rather than a vehicle for the industry’s worst excesses. What this means for the Singapore-headquartered e-tailer is shifting from virgin to recycled polyester, sourcing deforestation-free viscose and diverting other brands’ surplus textiles from the landfill or incinerator.
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“EvoluShein by Design supports our advancement to a more circular system, starting with the design of our products,” said Caitrin Watson, its director of sustainability. “Our ambition is to continue measuring and mitigating the environmental impact of our products while collaborating with other industry leaders to propel the circular textile economy forward.”
To qualify for the EvoluShein by Design label—a designation that could prove tricky in light of the European Commission’s crackdown on in-house eco-edits—garments must comprise more than 30 percent of so-called “preferred” materials. They must also be produced with suppliers that have received top social compliance marks through third-party audits. This is likely strategic, as well. Fending off accusations of forced labor, particularly involving Xinjiang’s majority Muslim population, is another concern for the online phenom, which has been battling scrutiny from legislators in both the United States and France.
Materials aside, Shein says it aims to ship products in packaging containing more sustainable content, such as recycled PET; encourage water and energy conservation by increasing the adoption of planet-pandering manufacturing techniques like digital thermal transfer printing technology; and utilize more facilities powered by renewable energy. Before the end of the decade, the Romwe owner plans to source half of its branded products using the aforementioned criteria, employ only forest-safe viscose and paper packaging, and become a “global leader” in “rescuing [the] industry’s excess inventory.”
All of this comes as Shein lifts the curtains on AcceleraShein, a global seller “empowerment program” that will provide its third-party marketplace sellers with training and incentives, plus access to performance dashboards that can help them better suss out trends. The company revealed Thursday that Mexico will get a marketplace of its own, following the concept’s debut in Brazil and the United States.
“At Shein, we believe that the integration of our marketplace has enabled us to meet the ever-evolving demands of our global customers while providing tangible benefits to our valued partners and seller communities,” chief operating officer Molly Miao said. “Our commitment to supporting small businesses worldwide through our platform is a cornerstone of our mission to empower entrepreneurs and drive innovation across the entire industry.”
To officially kick off EvoluShein by Design, the second-most downloaded shopping app—it was No. 1 until Temu, another purveyor of ultra-cheap goods, knocked it off its perch—launched over the weekend its first product collaboration under the program’s auspices: EvoluShein x Anitta, which, with some assist from the Brazilian pop star, highlights the Nanjing-founded company’s work with recycled polyester, forest-safe viscose and deadstock textiles.
George Harding-Rolls, campaign manager at the Changing Markets Foundation, a watchdog group that takes corporations to task for greenwashing, among other things, isn’t terribly impressed. He compared the collaboration to Boohoo’s widely panned decision to appoint reality TV star Kourtney Kardashian Barker as a sustainability ambassador.
Turning castoff plastic bottles into textiles, for one, is far from circular, since it amounts to a recycling “dead end,” Harding-Rolls said. Shein’s efforts to use deadstock and deforestation-free viscose are similarly “token” in nature, reminding him of oil companies that invest small amounts in renewable energy and alternative fuels as “distractions” for both customers and legislators even as the core of their business remains unchanged.
“This is pure greenwash,” he said. “They’re trying to find a way to continue to use vast amounts of fossil-fuel derived fibers but to convince their customers they’re doing good for the planet. They are hardwired to the take-make-waste business model and will do anything they can to distract from this reality.”
Harding-Rolls’s—somewhat rhetorical—question to Shein: How can a company that adds hundreds of thousands of new items to its website every year—more than 10 times the combined offerings of Boohoo, H&M and Zara, according to retail analytics platform Edited—be in any shape or form “sustainable”?
Dr. Sheng Lu, associate professor of fashion and apparel studies, at the University of Delaware, takes a more measured view. As one of the largest clothing sellers in the United States, perhaps the world, Shein is obligated to make its business sustainable and ethical. But there is a way to go.
Lu said that Shein’s latest ESG report shows that it still needs to make “considerable progress,” including by providing more verifiable information about its suppliers and their social and environmental compliance performance.
“While it is commendable that the company has started to launch sustainability-focused projects, there is a pressing need for Shein to fundamentally reduce the environmental and social impact of its ultra-fast fashion business model,” he said.
By its own admission, Shein’s production volume jumped 57 percent in 2022, resulting in 52 percent more greenhouse-gas emissions as a result. It maintains its commitment, however, to reduce its absolute emissions by 25 percent by 2030.
But that’s not the only problem, said Becca Coughlan, senior accountability manager at advocacy group Remake.
“Shein’s second ESG Report is an ongoing greenwashing exercise to give the company’s weak social and environmental goals an illusion of legitimacy,” Coughlan said. “While Shein has pledged to decarbonize, the focus remains on measuring and monitoring climate impacts instead of addressing the source of the brand’s climate impacts which are obscene levels of overproduction.”
EvoluShein, EvoluShein by Design, et al. are “red herrings,” and “window dressing,” she added.
Watson said that EvoluShein, as its name implies, is a work in progress. The idea, she said, is to bring the IPO aspirant’s customers on a “journey” as it continues to “evolve Shein for the future.” That’s where Anitta and other collaborators come in, too.
“Launching this collection with Anitta is an opportunity to promote alternative and informed fashion choices in a way that is engaging for our customers,” she said. Through EvoluShein by Design—and its broader EvoluShein roadmap—the company hopes to pare back its impact while “rewarding responsible suppliers and promoting awareness to its global following of fashion enthusiasts.”
One person who’s sold? Anitta herself.
“I am happy that Shein is taking an important step in sustainability and its overall environmental impact,” the songstress said. “We all want to look great, while also respecting the planet and people.”
The latter sentiment, if not the former, is one that everyone can at least agree on.
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