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Comment by CaptainOfCoit | Hacker News Reader

As someone with not too deep knowledge into the fashion industry, isn't Shein basically the same as H&M, which has sustained itself for more than 70 years? How are they different? Both seem to have a focus on fast fashion, although Shein seems to focus more on online sales compared to H&M.

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SHEIN has experienced explosive growth through obscenely low prices, achieved by exploiting trade rules (de minimis value to offer free shipping), forced labor in manufacturing, ghost shifts, plagiarism, use of garbage materials (incl. cotton alleged to be created via slave labor), and "just in time" manufacturing habits that triple-down on items that sell.[1] Not to mention a gamified app pandering to a very addicted audience (average SHEIN shopper is 35 and spends 60% more than most folks per month on clothes)[2] and seems to have a "I shouldn't have to pay what things cost to manufacture, and whatever I want in my size shouldn't cost me more" attitude re: clothing.

H&M has positioned itself as more of an "eco friendly" and "fair wages" player but as a fast fashion retailer, has had accusations of similar practices in the past.

SHEIN seems a little different due to the nature, scale, and shameless lying infused in their approach. Their actions are orders of magnitude more intense even the grey zone manufacturing practices of Forever 21/Zara. Goes without saying no fast fashion is "ethical" by any stretch, but SHEIN is on another level.

[1] https://time.com/6695469/temu-shein-de-minimis/ [2] https://archive.ph/XRs9C

Shein is basically a polyester company, as well as an even more egregious design thief. This makes them faster than the rest, as well as environmentally and socially undesirable.

The difference is in the way they do logistics and on-demand/just-in-time production. Shein is deeply integrated with its suppliers - H&M and similar are not.

Traditional retail - like H&M - has a markup of around factor 10 (meaning if something is 100 in the store, the factory/shipping company gets 10) - and supplier lead times of 3-6 months.

Shein has much lower markup and lead times of down to under a day.

> sn't Shein basically the same as H&M,

Compared to Shein H&M is a luxury brand.

Guess you think Penneys/Primark is luxury as well in that case...

Regardless, more insightful information would be very welcome here rather than hyperbole.

SHEIN is more like Urban Outfitters with the TikTok trendy throttle turned up to 10. Everything is obscenely cheap and not intended to be worn more than 5-10 times and sold for more than a season.

I think the comment you are replying to was tongue in cheek.

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