News: How Shein Gatecrashed Fashion’s Sustainability Show

Friday, June 10, 2022

How Shein Gatecrashed Fashion’s Sustainability Show

THIS WEEK IN SUSTAINABILITY: FRIDAY, JUNE 10, 2022

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Dear BoF Community,

This week, fashion's sustainability power players gathered in Copenhagen for the industry's premier event focused on tackling its environmental and social impact.

It's the first time the Global Fashion Summit organised by industry advocacy group Global Fashion Agenda has been held in person since 2020. And it took place against a backdrop of mounting urgency.

The unequal relationships that underpin poor conditions in fashion's supply chains have been laid bare by the pandemic, and the window of opportunity to avoid catastrophic climate change is rapidly closing. Meanwhile fashion's emissions and production volumes are continuing to increase.

That opened the door for more critical and challenging conversations, framed by more voices and perspectives than in previous years. But in many ways it felt a lot like 2019.

There was talk of collaboration; there was talk of leadership; there was talk of moving beyond talk to actual action.

And there was one bombshell: Shein, a company that has become the industry's poster child for wasteful overconsumption, launched a $50 million fund to tackle waste and offset its impact.

The disconnect between the Chinese company's ultra-fast fashion business model and its new commitment felt jarring. But it's a page straight out of fashion's sustainability playbook.

Just like other high-profile industry players, Shein's announcement tried to refocus the conversation on efforts to mitigate its impact without addressing its root cause: the culture of excessive consumption that fuels fashion's growth.