SHEIN launches EvoluSHEIN collection: here’s what YOU think about it

On 28th April 2021, the online retailer of fashion, beauty, and lifestyle products SHEIN announced the launch of its purpose driven collection EvoluSHEIN.

First thing: what is EvoluSHEIN?

According to the company, the ‘EvoluSHEIN’ collection includes responsibly sourced materials such as recycled polyester, inclusive sizing, and supports women’s empowerment projects around the world by partnering with Vital Voices, a leading international non-profit investing in women leaders taking on the world’s greatest challenges, such as gender-based violence, the climate crisis, economic inequity, and more.

Industry critics have immediately reacted to the news by stating that SHEIN’s statement is “greenwashing” and they compared the company’s sustainability goals to a “teeny weeny little plaster over a very big leaking wound.”

8% of you says it’s cool and 92% say it’s just greenwashing

We sent out a poll to see where your heads are at with the news of SHEIN’s “responsible” launch. We asked: do you think this is a game-changer or is this greenwashing? As expected, we are very suspicious about this move… almost everyone thinks it’s not a genuine choice. Indeed, SHEIN is the perpetrator of many fishy practices…

The main issue is the lack of transparency

Most of the products in this collection are made of polyester, aka plastic; some of them are said to be made of recycled polyester BUT nothing is known about the percentage of recycled materials, meaning that potentially only 1% of the materials used are recycled!

A second point can be made about their statement that they will “empower women”. Again, the problem is transparency! SHEIN has 1% of transparency score, which means that they do not disclose ANY information about the conditions of their workers, we don’t even know if they are paying them a living wage… Suspicious!

And last but not least, we have to keep in mind that SHEIN is the fast fashion brand launching more collections per year, with an outstanding number of more than 300,000 new styles added in the last year… If we compare this number to Zara’s or H&M’s, which respectively drop 6849 and 4414 collections a year, we see that there is no benchmark of comparison anymore

So, SHEIN creating one “responsible” collection, assuming that it is actually more sustainable than the others, is only a drop in the ocean that does not change a single thing. The business model is based on wrong assumption and practices, this moves seems just a way to make us forget about everything else…

So SHEIN, thank you, but no thank you

SHEIN launching an eco-friendly collection is the perfect example of what greenwashing has done: ANY brand can and and will use the word “eco” or “sustainable” or “conscious” (and the list goes on), but these words have lost all their meaning as often there’s no proof backing up the statements. This is the pure problem of greenwashing.

These words are used to “convince” customers to buy with a “clear conscience”, not having to give second thoughts to the ethicality of the seller. Luckily, there are websites you can trust as your source to check if a brand is actually responsible, as Renoon!

And let’s not forget that there are cheaper options if the price is the problem: you can make the cheaper responsible choice by renting, swapping or thrifting!

What’s on your mind? If you still haven’t taken part in our poll, make your voice heard here.