‘Untrue’: SHEIN denies alleged sweatshops, explains how prices kept low

MANILA, Philippines — Global fashion and lifestyle e-retailer SHEIN denied allegations that it operates sweatshops in China.

In an exclusive interview with Philstar.com last week for their new pop-up shop in Glorietta 2, Makati City, Qui Tianyi, SHEIN’s head of branding for Southeast Asia, denied that the company engages in the illegal and unethical manufacturing practice of operating sweatshops.

“I think there has always been untrue, negative news about us,” he said.

He added that they are prepared to take action against the allegations.

“We will be taking actions accordingly.”

It can be recalled that in October last year, it has been reported that the Chinese, Singapore-based company was allegedly found to have factories in China where employees allegedly work 18 hours a day with no weekends, earning just two cents per item, and “washing their hair on lunch breaks because they have so little time off.”

But SHEIN is not the only international brand accused of having sweatshops. Other labels like the Spanish Zara, the Swedish H&M and the American GAP have been slumped with abusive labor practices allegations.

If not through supposed sweatshops, how is SHEIN able to keep its costs down amid global inflation, with prices that go for as low as below P100 for accessories?

According to Qui, their products’ quality keep customers going for more, so they did not have to spend much on marketing and advertising efforts that add up to their products’ prices.

“We always have our customers’ interests at heart. So we want to make sure that our products are having premium quality at affordable prices. So that’s what we’re trying to do,” he said.

Selling purely online, he added, also enables the brand to keep its prices at a minimum since other expenses such as store location rental are no longer in the equation.

“Yes, and we are selling online, and most of our efforts are also online, that’s one of the reasons why we’re always able to bring the best products to our customer, the most cost-efficient, also the fastest way possible.”

Moreover, the brand is able to keep prices affordable by partnering with young, not big ticket, designers from all over the world, Qui said.

“We have an initiative where we partner with young, talented designers. We do provide our platform for them, where they can design and make a profit out of it, and we provide our platform for two months for free and give them the opportunity.”

Even Filipino designers are represented in their app, Qui noted.

“(The) Philippines has been one of our most important markets in Southeast Asia and we have more campaigns and events to come.”

He urged customers to order from their app directly to confirm the items’ authenticity since there are unauthorized sellers using their company’s name to sell items offline.

“There will always be other brands and other competitors. We just want to focus on our goals and our agenda, which is true SHEIN for all, which is to make our brand more inclusive and to make the pie bigger and bringing quality products to our customers.”

MANILA, Philippines — On the morning before Belle Mariano was declared Prom Queen at the first ever Star Magical Prom, she was first the belle of the ball at global e-retailer SHEIN’s Bloom Pop-Up Showroom in Makati City last weekend.

Belle, the brand’s first Filipino ambassador that graced the company’s first Philippine pop-up shop last October, also attended the label’s second Philippine pop-up shop in Glorietta 2 together with other influencers like Small Laude and Dani Barretto.

Vivian He, SHEIN’s Head of Marketing for Southeast Asia, told Philstar.com that Belle and the pop-up shops have been “very effective” at increasing their brand awareness in the Philippines. Although He was unable to give an exact figure on how much their sales or site visitors have increased since having the “He’s Into Her” star as endorser, He shared that their sales in the Philippines has been “growing fast.”

“So far, so good. There’s a lot of influencers and also our brand ambassador (Belle Mariano). We have a great team to make this happen. So (overall), it’s very successful.”

According to He, they are still studying if they will release a new collection handpicked by Belle after the February drop.

Like their company that offers a wide variety of items from fashion to makeup and home accents, Belle is a multi-faceted singer and actress that fits their brand, He said.

“Belle is a rising star. She’s young and very much into fashion – very close to the SHEIN brand.”