To improve its image, the Chinese online fashion giant has published several videos in which content creators marvel at the working conditions of the group’s workers, which have so far been criticized.
“ Now I can go home reured and confident about my partnership with Shein“. On the screen, the influencer American Dani Dmc smiles smugly. In this video posted in mid-June on her networks and those of the Shein US channel, she presented, with other influencers, behind the scenes of the factories of the Chinese online ready-to-wear brand. Invited by the juggernaut of the fast fashionall rave about the experience.
Supporting advertising music and your documentary, the Internet user can see them visiting one of the Chinese brand’s warehouses, chatting with the workers “who designs the clothes», where you can watch them try their hand at preparing orders, all supervised by employees of at Shein. “I am a person who likes to perceive energies and I feel that here the employees feel good commented Dani Dmc on the return bus. “ It doesn’t look like the big dehumanized factories, I even saw some employees listening to their music!“, adds his neighbor, delighted.
The atmosphere is therefore friendly, the protagonists all smiles… no more accusations around forced labor uyghurs, a Muslim minority in the Xinjiang region of China, which is believed to be operated by the brand. Also forgotten are the criticisms of Shein, which allegedly encourages abusive overconsumption to the detriment of the environment, by adding more than 6,000 items to its site every day, sold at minimal prices.
These dark aspects of the brand had however been revealed in a documentary broadcast last October by the British channel Channel 4. But even if it means contradicting the information in the film, Dani Dmc and his colleagues ure him: they have lived “a unique and real experienceduring this organized trip. “ As a Shein consumer myself, I will be able to reure my community, my friends and my family“, she continues, while posing in front of a commercial of the brand.
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Influencers, loyal allies of Shein
On his networks, Dani Dmc is followed by no less than 481,000 people on Instagram and almost 300,000 on TikTok. An audience likely to discover the additional content of Dani’s trip to China, including a video of his flight with free champagne, all without ever separating from his suitcase where the Shein logo is obvious.“ Watch, a new episode of Black Mirror», «They select influencers who do not offer any criticism” or “How can they claim that Shein employees have decent working conditions??“, protest most. Others even caricature the video to underline the absurdity of the positive discourse held by content creators.
It’s not the first time that Shein, which made nearly $30 billion in sales in 2022, has called on influencers to restore its reputation internationally. From the start, Western content creators have been among their main allies in promoting the brand to this market.
If only on TikTok, the hashtags “sheinhaul” And “sheinbetween them reach 70 billion views. In these posts, influencers unpack their purchases made on the store’s site. And if, concerning this new promotional video, Dani Dmc claims not to have been paid by the brand for going to the factories, the trip seems entirely supported by Shein.
Pop-up stores
Last October, the Chinese online fashion giant even sent a letter to its valued partner influencers, uring them to launch an investigation “to follow up on the allegation about the unacceptable working conditions of two of our suppliers“, ured the brand, referring to the revelations made in the documentary broadcast by Channel 4. The report denounced in particular the infernal days, of more than 18 hours, carried out by the workers.
Despite the criticisms, the brand’s digital strategy has proven effective enough to moderate the impact of controversy. According to the Reech agency, Shein would be the sixth most ed application in 2021 in France and second in the United States. In addition, it is one of the Fast Fashion brands most cited by influencers in France, in third position (18%), after Zara (40%) and H&M (20%).
Read alsoShein, the controversial “fast-fashion” brand, opens a pop-up store in Paris this Friday
To establish this growing popularity, Shein does not hesitate to deploy the great means and multiplies the ephemeral shops in France. Last May, for example, she opened one in the Marais district of Paris. With queues starting at 7 a.m. to enter the store, the operation turned out to be a success.
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