Wednesday news
Today is the 20th of April, 2022. Ultra-fast fashion news, and yesterday’s visuals.
Let’s talk about Shein. Honestly I had no idea what it was, and that is a big deal in the fast fashion industry. I don’t know how that happened, that someone raised an elephant in my garden and I didn’t see it. I’m not the target audience, I guess, and Shein don’t have offline stores, only e-commerce, so I missed their targeting on Instagram.
I saw the brand’s name in the annual analytic reports on Business of Fashion, but it didn’t ring the bell and I had much more important things to cover. I thought. Then crossed over an angry post of Livia Firth during the morning news scrolling, and the name stuck in my head. Though I still had no time to research, because of the Ukraine. I mean where’s fashion, and where’s w.. ups… “special operation”?
But yesterday I faced it - the Guardian article “Ultra-fast fashion is taking over – and using every trick in the book to get us addicted”. I wanted to add it to my recommendation list in the part about climate warming but it didn’t fit, so I read it today, and was literally lost in the materials that brand “inspired” - from the general description of its success to the multiple complaints on the stolen designs from the right owners, and finally investigation of the production and delivery chains, and company’s structure.
I was impressed with the genial business model they developed and the marketing strategy that beats most of the competitors' efforts and pushes their sales further and further. At the moment Shein worth more than Zara and H&M combines ($100bn) and it’s not the limit.
Unlike other cheap clothing labels it has a strong image of stylish and cool, fashionable and inclusive.
Their runaway is fun and the most important the models are styled pretty well, plus sized women look as flawlessly sexy and Euphoria-ready as the slim next door girls we used to see in the fashion advertising. The promotion strategy is based on viral social user content, on micro influencers support, perfect lifestyle typical Instagram and TikTok execution of the visual content, hype on the comparison with original designs (super cynic but very trendy and viral by the definition of scandal) and on the targeting that you can’t recognise at the first sight as a promotion post.
On the other hand, the prices are so low that I can’t stop thinking that they sell their stuff like its a selection of jewing gum and candies at the cash point. It feels like an impulse purchase for the person who doesn’t consider it as actual money spending but rather a thing to cheer the mood or to close the “I-have-nothing-to-wear–this-summer” gestalt.
The most interesting part isn’t that, because that is just the “package” for the demand. The best part is the business model itself. Multiple designs in very small amounts are traded online and if some of them are selling fast, those will have second, third and fourth “editions”. It works almost as a “print-on-demand” model for book publishing. With the only difference that all the “titles” are produced already, so “unwanted” copies should be utilised somehow as well as the returned garments.
Though with “returns” they found out the best policy ever, they call it “free returns” but in practice it should be “keep the thing you don’t like, we’ll return you the money”. The price of the clothes is comparable and sometimes equal to the delivery costs. Company prefers to pay back the money than to manage the returns. Of course it doesn’t work for big orders.
Why is return policy so important? The brand is based on low quality and huge quantity of that “quality” sales. Spot-on style isn’t the main problem in the fast fashion business. Things should be wearable at least for a short time. They should excite the client - inject a micro dose of dopamine. Even if the execution is ok, not perfect, tactile experience from the material can kill the thrill.
Ultra-fast fashion exists thanks to the cheapest of the textiles mostly synthetics. The photography can look fabulous, but when you take the thing in your hands the feeling of disillusionment can be pretty heavy. The only way to neutralise the effect is to make the complaining painless. Even better if it costs the client nothing at all, no time, no extra efforts, no money.
The same psychological relief Shein exploited in the described cases of artist's works misappropriation. They prefer to act immediately and pay off the complaining artists as soon as they become publicly exposed. Before the courts, before the lawyers talk, unlike prestige brands that either show no sign of the recognition of the problem or let their lawyers work on the cases. Shein solves everything on the manager’s level.
On the other hand when design was copied from Zara, Levi’s or Ralph Laurent’s collections, they prefer to use flashmobs on the social platforms to promote their cheap examples versus more expensive originals. The message is usually referred to the “fair deal” concept: “don’t pay for the name, here’s the real price”. I would say it’s very close to the concept of “no name” versus “brand”, but with a twist: we are talking about bad quality tissues compared with the worst quality that should cost less.
The other interesting side of the Shein’s business model is the logic built in the production process, and it’s particularly delicious, though for the European mind it’s too chaotic for the understanding and for that reason it seems too complicated. In reality it’s simple and genial as well. Can’t call it 100% authentic, it’s professionally stolen from many projects and if we put it in the drawing it will remind us of a Tokyo subway scheme. I will write about it next time.
Now speaking of the most scandalous part of the brand’s reputation: ecological impact and labour exploitation. The first is huge, no doubt about that. Unfortunately it is based on the social disease named “overconsumption”. The business model is relatively less “overproductive” than their competitors’, but when it scaled that wide the amount of accumulated unsold “mistakes” (even produced in small amounts of 100-200 copies) is huge, as well as the amount of “returned” garments that weren’t resold again but left stored or ended up in trash. That’s like counting drops in the ocean during the rain.
Labour exploitation in the Shain case doesn’t look as grave as most people might think. Honestly, compared with the illegal sweatshops in Prato (Florence) or somewhere in Spain, the salary of average workers (about 1000-1500 euros per month) is not bad as well as the conditions. Yes, not as they should be, people don’t have contracts, and they work for 12 hours per day but the money they get correlates not with time but with the quantity of the work that was made, the quality of it and its complexity.
So it’s about professional labour. People prefer to work double shifts than to have two different jobs at the same time. Compared with the expenses and the average income level they believe it’s a fair deal in their cases. Against the Chinese laws, norms and regulations, but it’s a matter of choice. Those people come from provinces where the costs are lower so they work to collect enough money and return home. China isn’t Europe or the USA and the mentality as well as the average quality of life is completely different from what we used to call a norm for many years. Plus all the production is outsourced, so Shein is either not interested enough or unable to control the sustainability of it. Nevertheless they have a formal policy on the subject.
A digest from my feed for April 19th, 2022
6.30am zakharova_kaetano Good morning 🌞 How are you today? #haveagoodday I woke up between dream and reality, too early. Yesterday was all about healing, night about news reading. Poisonous))) so I welcome a bit of magic in the morning for #meditationmood #morninginspiration #morningmood here’s a @costureroreal video with @vampireoftheshire model. A costume brand from Barcelona. No idea how people manage to live in a fairytale fantasy but if to lie to myself I’d definitely prefer that than lame propaganda or hateful theories and rewriting history to feel more significant. #artofcostume#goodmorningpost #fashionnotes
9.00pm zakharova_kaetano #nightmood #artofphotography #finephotography by @juulkraijer S series model @_esme_a 🐍 @ferrytorrez Video credits “Prologue” dancer: Camille Mutel #artasinspiration #contemporaryart #artisticphotography#fairytaletime
11.30pm zakharova_kaetano #goodnightandsweetdreams #nightmood#artofportrait @violadavis photographed by @ruvenafanador for @nytmag makeup @autumnmoultriebeauty @nyt style by @elizabethstewart1 hair @jamikawilson #artofphotography#beautyofwoman #blackandwhitephoto #fashionportrait
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