Suppliers in Chains: SHEIN’s Troubling IPO
Elias Sköld, Nico Mastrangelo, Emma Sage / 6 Mar 2024
PSSI’s newest Perspective takes on the proposed IPO of SHEIN, the fast-fashion giant faced with a litany of allegations. We find that SHEIN has either concealed its practices or willfully misled consumers and lawmakers in the U.S. and EU regarding its record on human rights, workers' rights, environmental damage, consumer product toxicity levels, and customs regulations. It has been demonstrably and repeatedly linked to forced labor from the Xinjiang Province in China, faces a multitude of criminal allegations, and has demonstrated a repeated failure to protect workers and consumers.
SHEIN is reportedly seeking a $90 billion valuation, underwritten by major investment banks including JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, but its ambitions now face growing bipartisan resistance in the U.S. Congress. To counter this, SHEIN may be considering a public listing on the London Stock Exchange instead. Not only would permitting SHEIN to be publicly traded serve as a stamp of official approval for its unethical and illegal practices, but the subsequent Western investment would also directly fund and encourage the continuation of SHEIN’s egregious corporate behavior.