Commentary
Shein, China’s fast-fashion company, moved its headquarters from Nanjing to Singapore last year, apparently in an attempt to globalize and escape the bad reputation of its parent country. Yet most of its business operations, including almost all its factories and warehouses, remain in China.
Shein apparently tried to rehabilitate what’s left of its China image last month by funding an all-expenses-paid influencer boondoggle to Guangzhou in southeast China, with a side trip to Singapore.
The public relations stunt soured when followers pilloried their influencers for naively promoting Shein’s labor and environmental policies after getting VIP treatment, including business-class flights, massages, and stays at the swankiest of swank hotels, the Four Seasons….