cross-posted from: beehaw.org/post/18107420
The founder of British clothing brand All Saints has said he would be “horrified” if fast-fashion firm Shein is allowed to list in London, describing the Chinese-founded company as the “worst” offender in the sector.
“Fast fashion really has changed the whole industry, because it’s now like a race to the bottom… The planet cannot afford it,” Stuart Trevor, who founded All Saints in 1994, says.
With the average consumer purchasing double the amount of clothes as 15 years ago and keeping it for half as long, emissions from the industry have skyrocketed.
“Everybody’s got wardrobes full of clothes that they don’t wear,” Trevor said. “We’re never going to stop people from buying clothes, but it would be better if we could encourage people to create longer-lasting items of clothes.”
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The Singapore-based firm Shein is currently aiming for an initial public offering (IPO) in London, although the IPO is facing signifcant scrutiny from MPs and human rights groups.
Leigh Day, the lawyers for Stop Uyghur Genocide (SUG), delivered a dossier of evidence alleging supply chain abuses to Shein’s senior lawyer for EMEA, Yinan Zhu, prior to an appearance before MPs last week.
The dossier is said to show “clear, identifiable links between cotton production in the Uyghur region and forced labour”.
Shein was widely criticised for its responses to MPs’ questions, where it declined to answer questions over the company’s supply chain. The firm’s representative, Yinan Zhu, asked if she could write to the committee following the hearing.
“Their performance at that inquiry was quite shocking… but it was also a bit of a sigh of relief,” Trevor said. “Hopefully now [the listing] won’t happen.”
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