link: https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2023/04/12/2645506/0/en/Fashion-for-a-Cause-SHEIN-to-Launch-Clothing-Drive-to-Support-New-Circles.html
I came across a post showing the launch of an in-person Shein store which I found really interesting since they were known for their e-commerce sales, after coming across this post I decided to read more in-depth and found this article. This article talks about how Shein is encouraging their customers to extend the product life cycle and follow the circular economy while aiming to reduce their own textile waste and work towards a better future.
Throughout the course, we learned the importance of circular economies and transitioning to zero or reduced waste. Additionally, Shein has always been considered a fast fashion brand with unethical practices and cheap clothing. However, this drastic change really made me reflect on whether Shein is actually doing this for the betterment of the environment or as a marketing tactic.
This partnership between Shein and Newcircles could either be their innovation for sustainability or a social marketing strategy.
If this partnership is truly a step towards innovation for sustainability, it will truly depict how a company like Shein that focused on fast fashion is able to change its mission and goals to work towards sustainability, allowing the company to gain some positivity from the public. However, if the partnership is only a one-time attempt at a social marketing strategy I feel like it can be considered as greenwashing in order to gain some clout or relevance by using the “Green Practices” additionally if Shein were to change their practices I wonder how that would impact their prices and production and how the consumers would react to it.
If a company decides to change its practices from fast fashion to sustainable practices they should know how to maintain it over the long run, or else it has negative repercussions on the brand.
Overall, one cannot decide right away whether Shein is actually taking a step towards sustainability or if they’re just greenwashing its products with one event. This is more about what the company is able to do in the long run and whether they are able to continue or not.
