Thrift Over Trend
With Shein’s sales slumping, is this a warning for all fast fashion brands that sustainability is winning and here to stay?
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A recent article published by Vogue Business revealed that Shein, a fast-fashion giant and ethically questionable company, has experienced a recent slump in sales. With more and more people choosing to withdraw their support of these exploitative and incredibly environmentally damaging fashion brands - as well as Trump’s recent tariff rampage on Chinese exports - highlights a potential progression when it comes to making more sustainable and supportive of our planet when it comes to our wardrobes. With Shein being such a discussion point currently, it raises the question: Is Shein’s downturn a tipping point for the fast fashion industry?
Despite Shein’s mere $4.8 billion profit in 2024 in comparison to its ‘predicted’ $45 billion, this is just one example of the gradual change in preference to fast fashion in general, with other brands, such as Temu, also making much less revenue and profit recently and acting as commentation on the age of sustainability as a whole. In 2023, Shein made an estimated $32.5 billion, a 43% increase compared to 2022. This sales data compared to the most recent 2024 statistic shows how Shein’s sales are drastically dropping, this drop being the consequence of Gen Z and their pro-environment movement.
With these new generations of young people becoming increasingly environmentally aware, this chnage in spending pattern and consumerism is only the beginning of a potential fashion revolution where we see sustainability being at the forefront - we already see this with the increasing importance for retailers creating sustainability initiatives and programs to compensate for their wide impact on our environment. But what does this all mean for the future of fast fashion?
What started as a social media trend has become a way of life, with many Gen Z choosing more sustainable options for their style, like vintage thrifting, charity shops and second-hand online retailers such as Vinted and Depop. With the hashtag ‘#thrifting’ gaining over 2 million posts on TikTok, this shopping alternative is trendy, popular and great for social media content; this social media appeal is great for promoting and influencing a more sustainable lifestyle that is more cost-effective while reducing emissions and wastage that fast fashion significantly contributes too, especially brands like Shein and Temu whose products are far from sustainable and have to be exported from China to countries all over the globe. With around 92 million tonnes of waste generated worldwide being textile waste yearly, 57% of this waste is in landfills; the impact fast fashion has on our planet is hard to ignore.
Shein has been a go-to for ultra-affordable fashion since the late 2010’s/early 2020’s for younger adults and Gen Z primarily - the ability to get several items for the same price as only two or three items from a typical fashion retail store being appealing for a generation with low income as well as appealing in the cost-of-living crisis the world has been victim to over the recent years. However, the post-pandemic has allowed people to enjoy greener and sustainable alternatives such as second-hand thrift stores, vintage clothing and charity stores, having similar price points to Shein but being more environmentally friendly. Shein’s recent significant drop in sales has multiple factors, but one of the primary ones is that people are choosing thrifting over extreme fast fashion.
With an increase in second-hand social media content and a decrease in fast-fashion and Shein-related content on popular platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, this could highlight the social media shift when pushing and influencing sustainable content. This could also shed light on how influencers and general users are finding more enjoyment and digital creativity with thrifted fashion rather than fast fashion; this change is what will ultimately be the demise of fast fashion in the future potentially, with social media marketing and shopping being such a significant source of revenue for fashion brands and businesses in the 21st century.
The creativity and community that comes with thrift culture, restyling and reimagining fashion is one of the main aspects of sustainability on social media that is driving Gen Z to be so forward-thinking and persistent when it comes to saying no to fast fashion and yes to second-hand finds. Shein’s downfall - not just because of tariffs but also a decrease in audience and consumers - is a prime example of how powerful Gen Z’s influence and values can be when stimulating change for universal issues that impact our future. The community they have built on social media platforms has a significant number of people all over the world to take a stand against unethical, unsustainable and environmentally ignorant brands like Shein and turn to more beneficial options to vamp up our wardrobe for low-cost but maximum effect.
The cultural critiques surrounding fast fashion, particularly Shein, have also been a leading factor in its sales slump as well as the downfall of fast fashion as a whole, influencing younger generations to question where they buy their clothes from and the ethics of the company. Shein’s immoral, forced labor allegations and poor working conditions in Xinjiang, China, have caused great concern globally, consequently raising concerns about fast fashion as an industry and whether Shein mirrors other brands. The allegations of forced labour and unsafe, poor working conditions have been made against minority groups and Uyghur, being the centre of the claims and retaliation. The concern is that this immoral manufacturing process that Shein and potentially other fast fashion brands use contributes to the worldwide movement against cheap, mass-produced clothing and choosing environmentally ethical and moral alternatives.
These cultural critiques, the environmental awareness of digitally-driven Gen Z and social media have all been factors contributing to Shein’s downfall and the growing trend to move away from fast fashion, welcoming more environmentally aware and ethical options instead. Where the economic impact is beginning to show within fast fashion as well as the cultural impact, I do believe fast fashion will still stand strong within the fashion industry due to its affordability and accessibility, particularly in the cost-of-living crisis so many of us are living. However, with this being said, the changes are showing and Gen Z’s influence in fashion choices is significant. So, are Shein’s plummeting sales a sign of Gen Z’s influence and proof of change for the better for the fashion industry?
