January in Fashion, Condensed.
'Ethical' cotton picked by child labour, Shein's controversial IPO bid, seven needle-moving innovators to know about, and where do clothes go when you declutter your closet?
Hello there,
In January, I was interviewed on the BBC World Service programme Newshour about Shein. The ultra-fast fashion company is looking to go public in the UK, and there’s heightened attention on it ahead of the estimated £50 billion IPO filing. Insiders say it may happen around April, but the details of the IPO are hazy. This is mainly because Shein won’t say anything about it — not even to the UK government. For the time being, speculation is all we have to work with. I only had a few minutes of airtime to cram in A LOT of thoughts on Newshour, so I thought I’d share some more here.
Why does Shein want to go public in the UK? Well, despite being founded in China and headquartered in Singapore as of 2022, Shein doesn’t actually sell within China. It’s main markets are countries like the UK, Australia, Brazil, and the United States. After aborting a U.S. IPO bid last year, the London Stock Exchange seems like a logical plan B.
When a company goes public, it stands to make a lot of money selling shares. This will allow Shein to expand its operations, despite it already being fashion’s largest producer of clothing and carbon emissions globally. But the IPO process has put the retailer under more scrutiny than usual. Shein pulled out of its bid in the US after legislators pushed back on it’s murky labour practices, and now the same is happening in the UK.
In January, UK MPs grilled Shein representative Yinan Zhu, general counsel for Europe, the Middle East and Africa in a parliamentary session, but didn’t get much information from her. Zhu refused to answer questions about Shein’s cotton sourcing, which is suspected to have links to Uyghur forced labour in China’s Xinjiang region (where 90% of the country’s cotton is grown.) Charlie Maynard, a Lib Dem MP for Witney, said the back and forth was “ridiculous and disrespectful.”
One might think this session was a nail in the coffin of Shein’s IPO bid in the UK — MPs seemed unimpressed and genuinely shocked by the brand’s flagrant lack of transparency about its business practices. However, at the same time, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, was in China drumming up trade and investment agreements to help rebuild the UK economy. For the government, a Shein IPO might do the trick, signalling that the UK is still a lucrative market post-Brexit.
In the last few years, Shein has been in reputation rehabilitation mode, throwing millions and millions into turning around its public image. In 2022, Shein awarded the OR Foundation (which does incredibly important work in Accra’s secondhand clothing sector) $15 million over three years. In 2024, Shein ramped up its donations with $250,000 for a Cambodian upcycling initiative, a €100 million circularity fund for the UK and EU, and €5 million for a textile recycling initiative in Kenya.
I won’t get into whether or not values-driven organisations should accept money from Shein — that conversation has been had. I certainly don’t think we should condemn them for accepting financial support to continue doing good work. What I wonder is: has any of this ‘philanthropy’ actually improved Shein’s reputation? And in the context of the current economic and social climate in the UK right now, how much does the London Stock Exchange or the UK government care about a public company’s ethics, really?
I don’t think that Shein’s laundry list of environmental and human rights scandals — including an ongoing racketeering lawsuit in the US, garment workers doing 75 hour weeks with one day off a month, unchecked use of toxic chemicals in children’s clothing, two cases of child labour, and a whole lot of tax avoidance — will prevent it from going public, whether it happens in the UK or elsewhere.
What I find encouraging is the increased scrutiny and palpable sense of disapproval from UK lawmakers who seem to be finally catching up to what activists, critics, Uyghur rights spokespeople, and journalists have been saying for years.
The fact is, Shein isn’t going anywhere. But if a public filing brings about greater expectations for transparency, accountability, and due diligence of its vast supply chains, maybe there’s a silver lining to this grey cloud hanging over London.
On that note, see you next month.
Meg
Things I Did Write/Say
The Needle Movers 2025: Fashion Has Solutions—It’s Missing Investment for Good on You
The lack of progress on sustainability in fashion isn’t due to the lack of innovation. Solutions to problems are out there. Funding, on the other hand, is the barrier. For this year’s Needle Movers list, we examine seven case studies that show what actual progress can look like: practical solutions to specific problems.
Interview on Shein with BBC World Service Newshour
I spoke to Tim Franks on the BBC World Service Newshour show about the controversy around Shein's impending IPO on the London Stock Exchange. We spoke about Shein's rise, how to get consumers to care about the ultra-fast fashion retailer's impact and the response to the recent UK parliamentary. The segment is at the top of the show and you can hear my conversation with Franks at the 6:10 mark.
Things I Didn’t Write
Where Do Clothes Go When You Declutter Your Closet? by Bella Webb for Vogue Business
Why Kantamanto Market’s Fiery Destruction Could Leave Sustainable Fashion Up in Smoke by Jasmin Malik Chua for Sourcing Journal
Temu Recalls Flammable Glow-in-the-dark Jumper After 8yo Girl Suffers Burns by James Taylor for ABC News
‘Ridiculous and Disrespectful’: British Lawmakers Blast Shein at Hearing by Jasmin Malik Chua for Sourcing Journal
The Jewellery Industry Loves Recycled Gold. Is That A Good Thing? by Charlie Espinosa for Vogue Business
Where Your Money Goes When You Shop At Zara (And It’s Not To The Textile Workers) by Yara Van Heugten for Follow the Money
‘Ethical’ Cotton Is Being Picked by Child Labourers in India, Watchdog Finds by Sarah Kent for Business of Fashion
Are Shein’s Skyrocketing Emissions Being Overlooked Ahead Of Its IPO? by Sophie Benson for Vogue Business
The Race to Remove ‘Forever Chemicals’ from Clothing Ahead of Bans by H. Claire Brown for the Wall Street Journal
The To-Do List
Carbonfact’s Definitive Guide to Sustainability Regulations
Keep mixing up the CSDDD with the CSRD? I’ve found this new guide from Carbonfact to be super helpful in understanding and differentiating the towering wave of legislation that’s about to crash down on the fashion industry.
Child labour is rife in cotton supply chains, and because its root causes can be diverse, it’s really hard to prevent or remediate. This report from Transparentem dives into the challenges and is a good reminder that no certification can completely mitigate insidious issues like child labour and debt bondage.