Opinion: Vancouver Fashion Week’s inclusion of Shein in their designer lineup shouldn’t have come as a surprise
VFW was heavily criticized on social media for their choice, but their decision, sadly, reflects consumer trends
After swift and substantial criticism on social media, Vancouver Fashion Week walked back on its decision to include Shein as a designer in its opening show, but the fact that they were planning to include the fast fashion giant in the first place speaks to a much larger issue.
Shein is a massive online marketplace that sells heavily discounted clothing, accessories, houseware, and electronics at alarmingly low prices. Think $11 CAD for a shirt, and $23 for a pair of pants.
NPR reported in 2023 that the retail behemoth lists over 600,000 items on their website at any given time, adds up to 10,000 new items per day, and can bring a garment from design to delivery in 10 days.
They are the fastest of the fast in the fashion industry, and with that dubious distinction have also taken the top spot for environmental harm.
Yale Climate Connections reported that Shein is the single largest polluter in fast fashion, which is no small feat.
According to a Business Insider analysis, the fashion industry accounts for 10 per cent of yearly global carbon emissions—more than the entire European Union—and approximately 85 per cent of textiles end up in landfills.
In a city that is well-known for slow fashion and eco-conscious consumption habits (think Anián and Londre Bodywear), you would think the inclusion of Shein in VFW would not even be considered, let alone given the greenlight.
And yet, they were booked.
The swift rebuke VFW received for including Shein is encouraging, but the criticism only tells part of the story, the numbers tell the other. And the numbers paint a grim picture.
Shein is popular. Very, very popular.
Shein’s TikTok hashtag, #sheinhaul, features millions of posts of mostly young, mostly women showing off their “hauls.”
Shein’s sales in 2024, according to Reuters, were $38 billion. At an average item price of $10, that’s about three billion 800 million pieces of junk clothing purchased in one year, 85 per cent of which are statistically likely to end up in the dump.
Between the one-two punch of stagnant wages and a relentless attention economy that makes everyone feel like they need to turn themselves into a brand, it’s easy to understand why young consumers are flocking to Shein.
But is the short-term gain of a cheap shirt or summer dress worth the long term planet pain of rivers clogged with last week’s styles?
It is said that there is no ethical consumption under capitalism, and maybe so, but there is certainly more ethical consumption, and less ethical consumption. And Shein is firmly, undeniably the latter.
Vancouver Fashion Week made a mistake and they faced the consequences of that decision.
But their mistake was not made in a vacuum, it’s the same one that millions of consumers are also making every single day, and we’re all the worse off for it.