Are shoppers to blame? The Chinese factories where the huge fast fashion company's clothes are made are under the spotlight.
Shein workers exploited for £6 shirts
Are shoppers to blame? The Chinese factories where the huge fast fashion company's clothes are made are under the spotlight.
It is 7.30am in GuangzhouThe fifth most populous city in China., China. Li is looking for work. The street is lined with notice boards, put out by clothing factories in need of extra workers.
Li looks at a pair of shorts and checks the pay being offered. Is it enough? Hardly - but he goes along anyway.
Shein is a huge fast fashionCheap clothing produced quickly by big retailers in response to the latest trends. brand. Its clothes are very cheap. Jumpers sell for about £6 and dresses for £10.
Low prices mean low wagesThe money you earn from your job. for the workers. "We get paid per piece," explains one. "It depends how difficult the item is. Something simple like a T-shirt is one to two yuan."
A yuan is worth around 10p. The worker makes 12 T-shirts an hour, earning her up to £2.40.
Workers said that they only had one day off a month. "We usually work 10, 11 or 12 hours a day," said one.
Meanwhile, most pieces of fast fashion clothing are only ever worn seven times.
Are shoppers to blame?
Yes! Most shoppers only care about what the clothes look like. They do not stop to ask how they are made. If shoppers stopped buying Shein's clothes, the company would not exist. We buy far too many clothes.
No! Shein's owners are to blame, not shoppers. Shoppers cannot be asked to find out how all their clothes are made. And when prices are high, people cannot be blamed for looking for cheap clothes.
Guangzhou - The fifth most populous city in China.
Fast fashion - Cheap clothing produced quickly by big retailers in response to the latest trends.
Wages - The money you earn from your job.
Shein workers exploited for £6 shirts

Glossary
Guangzhou - The fifth most populous city in China.
Fast fashion - Cheap clothing produced quickly by big retailers in response to the latest trends.
Wages - The money you earn from your job.