low-cost clothing takes on historic brands

Omnipresent in the wardrobes of many teenagers and young adults, Shein is shaking up the fashion market. To attract customers, the Chinese online ready-to-wear giant has a simple recipe: produce in record time. Thus, 500 new clothes are put online every day at unbeatable prices. A client says: “You find clothes cheaper than in stores.” The brand uses influencers to seduce its young clientele. These are displayed with almost identical competing models, but less expensive.

Difficult working conditions

According to designer Marie Dewet, Shein copied some of her pieces. She tried to attack the brand for infringement with her lawyer, but in vain, because the head office is based in China. “The laws on counterfeiting are different between each country, so nothing can be done”, regrets the creator of the MaisonCléo brand. In order to drive prices down, the company relies on hundreds of subcontractors in China. NGOs denounce extended hours and very low wages. So, some would like to go as far as banishing this model from Europe. Contacted, the brand which weighed 14 billion euros in turnover in 2022 did not respond to interview requests from France 2.