A look at Chinese fast fashion online retailer Shein, as 2020 sales reportedly hit $10B thanks to knockoff items, a nimble supply chain, and social media
By connecting China's garment factories with Western Gen-Z customers, Shein ushered in a new era of “ultra-fast” shopping. Tweets: @lmatsakis , @shiraovide , @lmatsakis , @lemonsand , @lmatsakis , @mikeisaac , @benedictevans , @lmatsakis , @lmatsakis , and @lmatsakis Tweets: Louise Matsakis / @lmatsakis : Last year, an art student named Julia King found an argyle vest in a thrift store. She took a photo of herself wearing it and listed it on Depop for $22. Within a few weeks, her photo was photoshopped and put on dozens of e-commerce sites to sell replicas https://restofworld.org/... https://twitter.com/... Shira Ovide / @shiraovide : This is a terrific story. https://twitter.com/... Louise Matsakis / @lmatsakis : As we reported this story, there was always a dark reality lurking in the background: Shein's business model is a disaster for the environment. The company told us it appointed a global executive to tackle environmental issues last month https://restofworld.org/... https://twitter.com/... Angela Lashbrook / @lemonsand : Worth keeping in mind that Shein is truly devastating for the environment https://twitter.com/... Louise Matsakis / @lmatsakis : One other thing I wanted to quickly note about this story: So many previous articles about Shein treat the company like an alien phenomenon, I think frankly because the tech/business industries aren't paying attention to young women and don't take their experiences seriously https://twitter.com/... Rat King / @mikeisaac : good read the quality is total garb right? fine enough to get the aesthetic you want but also terribly made (which i guess is the point) https://twitter.com/... Benedict Evans / @benedictevans : Interesting (implicit) thesis in this Shein profile: Amazon Marketplace is a starting point for Chinese suppliers who then move on sell through vertical category-killers with better vendor terms and customer UX https://restofworld.org/... Louise Matsakis / @lmatsakis : Amazon helped pave the way for Shein, and taught Western consumers to buy from Chinese companies directly. But eventually, Shein learned how to beat Amazon at its own game https://restofworld.org/... https://twitter.com/... Louise Matsakis / @lmatsakis : The vest had become part of the growing ultra fast-fashion industry, which is dominated by one company: Shein. Comparing Shein to H&M or Zara misses the point. It's more like Amazon, and operates a sprawling online marketplace that brings together ~6,000 Chinese factories Louise Matsakis / @lmatsakis : I spent the last six months investigating Shein and the Chinese fast fashion ecosystem with the best reporters in the game, @megatobin1 @ChenWQ45. Our reporting reveals that Shein uses sophisticated software to test and order thousands of new items at the same time https://twitter.com/...