Ignorance is certainly not bliss when shopping at Shein.
Shein is notoriously bad – it’s as simple as that. But when will consumer awareness of Shein’s inhumanity, exploitation, and environmental destruction override the brand’s allure of ultra-low prices?
For many, Shein’s unethical operations is old news, common knowledge if you will. However, what divides individuals is whether or not their growing knowledge of Shein’s unethical aspects translates into changes in their purchasing behaviours.
Perhaps this is easier said than done. After all, stories exposing Shein’s unethical practices surface constantly, yet they often appear in fragments, making it difficult to grasp the full extent of how deplorable Shein’s clothing production is.
The real question is: do consumers truly understand how bad Shein is?
10 Investigations that Explain Why is Shein So Bad
To bring clarity, here are 10 investigations into the undeniably inhumane and unethical practices of Shein, compiled for you and your right to know what you are supporting when you shop at Shein.
1. Discovery of Child Labour in Shein’s Supply Chains
In 2023, fast-fashion brand Shein admitted to finding child labour in their factories in China.
Shein acknowledged the issue in their 2023 Sustainability report and has claimed to have implemented stricter guarding against violations going forward. However, given Shein’s notorious lack of traceability, there is little assurance that such abuses won’t happen again.
According to the International Labour Organisation, 160 million children aged 5-17 are engaged in child labour worldwide. To put this into perspective, this is more than double the entire population of England. Many of these children labour in sectors essential to garment production, like textiles and farming.
Fast fashion giants, like Shein, exacerbate this crisis. Their prioritisation of rapid production and low costs creates an environment where suppliers are pressured to cut corners, including the exploitation of minors, to achieve unrealistic demands.
Without full supply chain transparency, how can consumers be certain their Shein purchase wasn’t made by a child who should be in school, playing with friends, and enjoying a childhood free from labour exploitation?
At Eco-Stylist, we believe transparency is the first step toward battling exploitation.
2. Shackled by Shein Village
At the beginning of 2025, the BBC released their investigation into Shein’s factories in Panyu, a district in Guangzhou known as the “Shein village,” where life revolves entirely around garment production.
Shein village is home to approximately 5,000 factories, most of them Shein suppliers.
“The alleys of Panyu function as labour markets,” the BBC reports. Masses of people huddle around a row of bulletin boards every morning, reading the job ads while examining the stitching on the garment samples.
This morning routine inspection is crucial for workers, who are paid per item, to calculate their earnings: how much they can make per piece and how many they must sew per hour to make a livable wage.
“Something simple like a t-shirt is one-two yuan [less than a dollar] per piece,” revealed one worker. “”We earn so little. The cost of living is now so high,” she says, adding that she hopes to make enough to support her two children who live with their grandparents due to gruelling working hours.
Another worker said, “If there are 31 days in a month, I will work 31 days.” These days are often 12-hour long days, the BBC reports.
Shein village highlights the reality that a Shein worker’s ‘choice’ to work is no choice at all. They are forced into it by their existing circumstances in a local exploitative economy – created, sustained, and dictated by fast fashion business models, like Shein’s.
Truth is, if Shein were to care about their workers, they would make a change to the minimal economic and educational opportunities in Panyu, ensuring workers had more time on their hands and better pay.
Instead, Shein workers remained trapped in a cycle of poverty and a life of piecework, where they cannot live but merely exist.
3. Illegal 75-Hour Weeks is the Norm for Shein Workers
A 2024 investigation by the Swiss advocacy group Public Eye has followed up on its 2021 report, confirming that Shein workers are still working 75 hours a week.
One employee, who has been producing clothes for 20 years, told Public Eye “I work every day from 8 in the morning to 10.30 at night and take one day off each month. I can’t afford any more days off because it costs too much.”
She represents the sad truth of low-paid piecework, where the sweetness of life is non-existent: no socialising, no hobbies, no walks in the park, no celebratory events, no joyful moments with loved ones – just sleeping, eating, and sewing.
Shein’s Code of Conduct clearly states that working hours must be arranged reasonably and comply with local legislation and Chinese labour laws.
Despite the company’s promises to improve conditions after the Public Eye 2021 report, workers still work almost double China’s set limit of 40 hours per week.
The level of disconnect between the fast fashion retailer and its suppliers is blatant. It seems, then, unquestionable that Shein’s Code of Conduct is not to be trusted.
4. The “UNTOLD” Reality of Overworked and Underpaid Shein Workers
A 2022 documentary, “Inside The Shein Machine: UNTOLD,” covertly investigated Shein, discovering similar findings to the BBC and Public Eye investigations, and worse…
The undercover cameras revealed how factory workers worked 18-hour days. “There’s no such thing as Sundays here,” the undercover reporter noted, as she found that workers were given only one day off per month.
The documentary further uncovered how severely underpaid workers are. In one factory, an employee’s base salary was 4,000 yuan (approximately £443 / $550) per month to make 500 garments a day.
This equates to a daily base salary of $20, which would be deducted by $14 if any mistakes were made.
The reporter who witnessed Shein’s operations first-hand concluded “The factory has a very inhumane system”.
5. Shein is the Prime Example of a “Sweatshop”
A 2021 investigation by Sixth Tone uncovered the stifling working conditions in Shein’s workshops.
“The working environment in the urban villages is often poor. Despite the intense heat and humidity, many of the workshops Sixth Tone visited had no air conditioning and provided only a hanging fan for ventilation. They’re also frequently unsafe.”
Sixth Tone described the factory rooms as “sweltering” even at 9 pm. But with the pressure of piecework, the women have no choice but to continue to work at a “rapid pace” in order to garner enough pay to get by.
To put into perspective how unbearably hot these working conditions are, workers best described working at the warehouses as just like “getting into a stove”.
Clearly, the term “workshop” does not suffice when discussing Shein’s operations – “sweatshop” is a far more accurate depiction of Shein’s reality.
6. Allegations of Uyghur Forced Labour
A group of U.S. lawmakers has urged an investigation into Shein over allegations that the company uses Uyghur and Turkik Muslim forced labour in its supply chain.
These allegations stem from concerns raised about Shein sourcing cotton from China’s Xinjiang region.
In 2020, research seen by the BBC found that up to half a million people were being forced to pick cotton in Xinjiang.
Why is Shein Bad? The Context: Genocide of Uyghur People
The U.S. Select Committee has declared an ongoing genocide of Uyghur and other Turkic Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.
Based on first-hand witness testimony and expert reports, these atrocities include torture, imprisonment, rape, forced sterilisation, and the exploitation of the Uyghur and Turkic Muslims in forced labour.
Despite the evidence, the Chinese government has repeatedly denied these allegations.
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act
To fight forced labour, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) establishes a legal presumption: unless companies provide compelling evidence, any product manufactured in whole or in part in Xinjiang is assumed to be the result of forced labour.
Under U.S. law, companies selling in the U.S. are required to comply with the UFLPA and, unless convincing evidence is provided, source cotton from “approved” regions, excluding Xinjiang
Does Shein Source its Cotton from Xinjiang?
It depends. While Shein claims compliance with the UFLPA for its U.S. market, it does not outright deny the presence of Xinjiang cotton in its supply chain for other markets.
Considering Shein ships to 150 countries out of 195 worldwide, this raises serious concerns about the extent of forced labour-tainted materials in its products.
The opaque nature of Shein’s supply chain hides its operations in secrecy, making it impossible for consumers to verify whether their purchases are linked to forced labour. This means consumers all around the world may be unknowingly supporting exploitation.
Is it truly worth the risk of supporting modern slavery – fuelling the exploitation of innocent lives – just to wear cheap clothes and accessories a handful of times, until the next microtrend pops up on TikTok?
There are loads of ethical alternatives to Shein, it’s really not that hard!
7. Shein Builds an Empire around the De Minimis Loophole
In the U.S. imported goods valued under $800 are exempt from tariffs and face minimal customs scrutiny compared to higher-value shipments.
This is called the de minimis exception – a loophole that is foundational to Shein’s fast fashion model, allowing the company to reduce import duties (making each product even cheaper) and avoid stringent supply chain traceability requirements.
An investigation revealed that Shein and Temu collectively account for almost 600,000 packages shipped to the United States every day under the de minimis rule. This amounts to 210 million duty-free packages sent to the U.S. every year.
To put this into perspective, “the duty-free shipments from just the two companies likely amounts to more than 30 per cent of all global de minimis shipments into the United States.”
Why is this an Ethical Issue?
Because de minimis shipments bypass rigorous customs scrutiny, they are far less likely to be screened for compliance with the UFLPA, which aims to prevent goods made with forced labour from entering the U.S. market.
Alleviating the pressure off Shein to abide by ethical standards, the de minimis loophole highlights the unknown risks consumers take when buying affordable clothing.
The reality is, it’s nearly impossible to ensure the items you wear are made ethically by fast fashion brands that appear to avoid transparency in reporting at all costs, like Shein.
8. Dangerous Levels of Toxic Chemicals Found in Shein’s Products
In May 2024, Seoul authorities investigated the popular global brand Shein and discovered dangerously high levels of phthalates (toxic chemicals) in their products, far exceeding safety regulations.
Among the findings were bags containing 153 times the legal limit of phthalates, and a pair of shoes that tested at an alarming 428 times above the permitted levels.
Why Toxic Chemicals in Clothing is an Issue
Numerous research shows that those exposed to toxic chemicals are subjected to potential extreme health concerns, such as cancer, fertility issues and more.
Toxic chemical exposure affects the health of factory workers and nearby communities, through inhalation, all the way to consumers, through skin contact.
The concerning levels of toxic chemicals found in Shein products reflect the company’s blatant disregard for others. They not only prove careless for their workers and their rights but also for their customers and their safety.
The De Minimis Loophole and Toxic Chemicals
The concerning level of toxic chemicals found in Shein’s products further shows why the de minimis loophole is an issue: it creates a backdoor for Shein products to enter the market without facing regulatory scrutiny that protects consumers from toxic chemicals.
This shows that, while legislations for toxic chemicals are in place, our safety is not guaranteed.
9. An Investigation into Shein’s Greenwashing Tactics
Italy’s antitrust watchdog launched an investigation into Shein over allegations of greenwashing: a deceptive marketing strategy that falsely claims environmentally harmful practices as sustainable.
The investigation specifically looked into Infinite Styles Services Co., which operates Shein’s website in Italy.
The watchdog investigation centred on the social responsibility sections of Shein’s website and Shein’s “evoluShein” collection, which allegedly misleads consumers into believing that the clothing in this collection is made of recycled materials.
The Italian Competition Authority has said Shein promotes its products as environmentally friendly through “generic, vague, confusing, and misleading environmental claims” that lack substantiation.
The watchdog further pointed out that Shein’s public commitments to reducing carbon emissions and environmental impact contradict the company’s 2022 and 2023 sustainability reports, indicating a rise in greenhouse gas emissions.
Failing to abide by its own Code of Conduct and actively deceiving its customers, it’s clear Shein is a company that cannot be trusted.
Interested in the consequences of Shein’s unsustainable practices? Click here to read more about how Shein is the polar opposite of a sustainable fashion brand.
10. Shein Accused of Charity Washing
Greenpeace has accused Shein of taking its greenwashing tactics to another level by engaging in charity washing.
In June, Shein announced a $15 million donation to an NGO working with textile waste workers in Ghana. This initially earned Shein some positive recognition.
However, the organisation says “Without any drastic change to its business model, this is in fact nothing more than a greenwashing stunt.”
How is this Greenwashing?
With the demand for microtrends, cheap garments, and overconsumption being at its core, Shein’s business model inevitably leads to massive textile waste.
Many of these clothes are dumped in landfills, riverbeds, and even the ocean, as documented by Greenpeace’s investigations in Kenya and Tanzania.
Without a change in their business model, no amount of charitable donations can compensate for the massive environmental destruction and exploitation embedded in Shein’s supply chain.
Clearly, Shein’s donation is a clear attempt to mask its role in the global waste crisis rather than take real responsibility.
If anything, the donation shows the company’s unwillingness to take meaningful action.
The Bigger Picture – Is Shein Bad? Unquestionably Yes
Will we continue to support brands, like Shein, that thrive on exploitation, prioritising profits over people and the planet? Or will we hold them accountable for a more ethical, sustainable, and better future?
The time for action is now.
Every purchase is a vote for the kind of world we want to live in.
That’s why, at Eco-Stylist, we help you find the most sustainable brands, so you can shop with confidence, knowing your choices align with your values!
The choice is in your hands.
Ella is a content writer at Eco-Stylist, where she combines her love for writing with her commitment to sustainable fashion. With an English degree from the University of Manchester, she’s passionate about raising awareness about the concerns of fast fashion. She loves buying and selling vintage clothes, painting, and listening to Lily Allen.
