Influencer Backlash Is the Latest Threat to Fast-Fashion Giant Shein’s IPO Plans

When Shein, the fast-fashion giant, flew a group of fashion influencers from the US to China on an all-expenses-paid junket in June, it became a case study in the sort of audience engagement that’s best avoided. The influencers’ videos on TikTok and Instagram attempted to debunk what some of them called “rumors” about forced labor and low pay at Chinese factories where Shein garments are made: Workers “weren’t even sweating” at one factory they toured just outside the southern city of Guangzhou, said one. The effort was an attempt by the company to shift public sentiment that’s been turning increasingly negative in the US, driven in part by growing scrutiny in Congress, before an expected initial public offering.

The backlash to the upbeat image the influencers conveyed—prompting social media post deletions and mea culpas by the influencers—is part of a broader storm against Shein that’s united anti-China critics across the political spectrum in Washington with the company’s apparel industry rivals. It’s increasingly fed by sentiment against fast fashion among some young shoppers who demand more ethical and sustainable clothing. “It’s been a disastrous few months for Shein,” says Chapin Fay, executive director of the Shut Down Shein campaign, which is funded by businesses opposed to the company and operates from the Washington offices of lobbying group Actum LLC.