Clothing in a cinch, beauty on a budget, fast fashion. In 2025, the prices you get shopping at your local mall will never compare to the insanely cheap costs you see on websites. The queen of them all? SHEIN. However, the ethical dilemmas that come with it, may make you think twice about buying.
What is SHEIN?
SHEIN was founded in China in 2008, by billionaire Chris Xu and was made to make fashionable clothing attainable. Xu even stated he deliberately created SHEIN to give the less fortunate more variety when choosing trendy clothing. However, in 2015, SHEIN had a rebranding. Due to its gaining popularity, the focus shifted from providing cute clothes for all, to the dangerous industry known as fast fashion.
Fast fashion is when a company produces clothing at rapid rates to meet the demand of the market. Fast fashion tends to have a bad reputation attributable to its poor effects on the environment and abuse/mistreatment of their workers. Although, it can be a good place to turn if you want a cute outfit, without spending a pretty penny. This leads us to the ultimate debate. Should we indulge in cheap clothing, or should we think about the true consequences of our actions?
Photo from Pinterest.com
To SHEIN or Not To SHEIN
The world is split in two in this battle. Some think it’s okay to treat themselves to affordable clothing from a seemingly popular website. On the contrary, there are others who are highly against it. This ongoing debate has been everywhere, even right here on Penn State’s campus, so VALLEY reached out to University Park students to see what they thought. Freshman advertising and public relations student Kaelyn Lalla-Cappa takes the opposing side, she states,
“I don’t use SHEIN. Well, it’s fast fashion, which is bad for the environment, and aside from that the quality tends to be terrible. On top of all that, in this day and age we are exploiting children, for out of all things, clothes!”
Photo from Pinterest.com
On the other hand, anthropological sciences student Samantha DeWitt says,
“I don’t like that SHEIN uses child labor, but it is very cheap and convenient. I think for a lot of people it can be the only option because it is so affordable, but for the people who buy a lot of SHEIN and have money, I think it is messed up.”
graphic from Pinterest.com
Although these are two slightly different opinions on the morals of using SHEIN or not, the consensus seems to be that most aspects of this fast fashion website are bad, and it should only be used in a dire fashion emergency.
What do you think? Tweet us @VALLEYmag with your thoughts!
Becca Fein is a first-year in the Bellisario College of Communications. She is studying broadcast journalism with a minor in human development/family studies and Spanish. Becca is from Long Island, NY, and you will most likely catch her singing (probably Broadway), watching new movies, or reading the latest thriller novel.
