The Shameful Case of Shein

Shein is a $100 billion company originally headquartered in China, now Singapore. By some metrics, it is the biggest fashion retailer in the world, and it has been accused of a lot of things, from having dangerous materials in many of its products, from pfas to lead, to huge tax evasion in the UK and Brazil and tax evasion in the US. It's also been accused from everyone of massive copyright theft. But the real story about Shein and its clothes is this: Shein's clothes are made by slaves.

Sources
CNN – Xinjiang Whistleblower Interview

NYT – Xinjiang Document Leak

Xinjiang Police Files

BBC – China Forcing Birth Control on Uyghurs

AP – Congressional Report Into Shein and Temu Forced Labour

TIME – Shein's Human Cost

NPR – Shein Influencers Are Shills

Business Insider – Shein Factory Conditions

US Select Committee On CCP - Uyghur Genocide Report

Bloomberg – Shein's Cotton Tests Positive For Forced Labour

The New Yorker – Surviving the Xinjiang crackdown

JPO – Report On Concentration Camps

DW – Uyghur Women Forcibly Sterilised

Genocide Studies Journal – Uyghur Women In Xinjiang Genocide

US Congress Report – Uyghur Genocide

Politico – Shein uses forced labor.

CNBC – Shein's IPO

The Guardian – Who is Shein's Founder?

Fast Cheap And Out Of Control – Shein's sudden rise

The Guardian – More then 500 000 forced to pick cotton

[theBlindDeafMute]

The temu ad playing immediately once the video concluded was such great comedic timing I swore it was part of the essay

[deeconstruction]

I remember Facebook aggressively pushing this stuff at me a couple years ago. One look at the prices should tell anyone with two brain cells and a soul that nothing that cheap could be ethically sourced.

[stewart]

I had to conduct risk management on Shein for my old employer, basically to decide whether or not they were a reputable business partner. Said employer are big on their social responsibility and vocally against modern slavery and dodgy tax behaviour.

‘We’ agreed they were fine to worn with. Thankfully I’ve moved on.

[quietdignityandgrace]

"We only use 2% of the illegal cotton" should NOT be a selling point.

Gee officer, only 2% of that kilo of cocaine is illegal, the rest is purely for medicinal purposes.

[SerenityNow....]

If you can't afford the high price tag of clothes made by reputable companies, then consider buying second hand. On line places like Thread Up, etc. are great. Not only can you avoid supporting manufacturers like Shein, but it also helps to reduce waste.

[AtunSheiFilms]

I appreciate you mincing no words at the end about our complicity in this as western consumers. Real change doesn’t just come from the systemic level, individuals have to change their habits and values too. I’m definitely never buying from Shein now and you’ve inspired me to look into the clothing and fashion industry much more critically. Thanks Georg ❤

[edoardostefaninmustacchi]

Public offering? How about jail, how about jail for the slavers, how about jail for the influencers supporting the slavers?

Honestly you have earned such statements on your videos, your body of work is amazing

[jamesabernethy]

You have a gift for comedy as well as for these deep dives. This one has been pretty dark. You're documentaries, no matter how long or short are always so effective and engaging. Informative not preachy. I believe you when you say this has been a tough one to research and get through. I hope you read some of these comments and take some positivity into the weekend. You deserve that.

[stevens]

Too many of my friends that are otherwise aware of issues and crimes in this part of world will think nothing of going onto Shein and Temu both. Thank you for getting this story out there.

[dfpguitar]

The shameful thing is that the clothing sold by the major high street brands and many of the top labels too, arent manufactured under significantly superior working conditions.
The clothes maybe better quality but the working conditions, pay, safety and job security are often just as bad.

[CarolineBearoline]

Oh cool, so you get to participate in human rights violations AND fill city dumps with disposable fashion at the SAME TIME?! Shein really DOES provide value /s

[Level__Frog]

I saw they had a really good selection of plus size clothing for men, so I've bought quite a few shirts and shorts from them in the past. I assumed they were corrupt, as basically all cheap fashion stuff is, and I'd heard of the copyright theft before, but i never knew the extent of their crimes. I'll never order from them again, I don't care how cheap they are- it's not worth the cost.

[SeaBeastLife]

Thankyou so much for this video George. My wife buys from these sites and won't believe me that the clothes are made by slaves, I can show her this and hopefully change her mind!

[tomaitoe]

Thank you, thank you for making this!!! I have been struggling to put how horrific the rise of Shein and Temu are in words without sounding preachy or holier-than-thou. Now I can share your video instead.

[PoulWrist]

The amount of stuff manufactured just to be garbage before it even leaves the factory is so depressing.

[paddy]

wont be long till youtube blocks this content - good luck Georg and thank you for spreading awareness about this

[ringsroses]

Got a Temu ad coming into this. Feels like the most relevant ad I've ever gotten.

[Asal]

I respect you so much man. Just posted this video on both the SHEIN subreddits, so lets see how long they stay up

[residentgrigo]

You always know how to get in the right mood for the weekend.

[milliman]

I've seen many videos about how Shein is shady, and let me tell you, there can never be enough videos exposing it. People need to know. Those who know and don't care are complicit. Especially those fashion influencers.