‘Gaslighting on Top of Greenwashing’: Shein Influencer Trip Under Fire
A Shein influencer trip appeared to backfire last week as social media users piled on the participating content creators for “gaslighting” their followers.
Last month, the fast fashion titan invited half a dozen influencers on an all-expenses-paid trip that included visits to a warehouse and an “innovation center”—where the company produces the samples it ships to factories. The creators documented the tours in videos shared on TikTok and Instagram, encouraging followers to not believe reports of poor working conditions and labor violations.
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Social media users, however, pushed back, criticizing the influencers for “gaslighting on top of greenwashing,” as sustainability author John Pabon put it in a TikTok that’s been viewed 263,000 times. Across the popular Gen Z social media app, videos tagged #sheininfluencertrip have received 1.6 million views.
Kenya Freeman, a designer and Shein collaborator, told her Instagram followers last week that the attention has brought a wave of harassment unlike anything she has seen before. Freeman, who has ultimately stood by the fast fashion seller, conceded that she could not speak to Shein’s business practices. “I do not know what they are doing,” Freeman said.
Destene Sudduth, an influencer with more than 4 million TikTok followers, also has kept her videos up. Sudduth received particular criticism on TikTok for saying she expected to see workers “slaving away” and telling followers “they weren’t even sweating.” Sudduth published four daily videos from the trip, but nothing since. In her most recent video, posted two weeks ago, the creator told her followers to expect a new video recapping the trip’s fifth day.
At least one influencer, Dani Carbonari, has severed ties with Shein following the backlash. In her original videos, Carbonari told her followers she “was really excited and impressed to see the working conditions.” She also nodded to criticism of Shein, saying “there’s a narrative fed to us in the U.S.” and that her biggest takeaway was “to be an independent thinker.”
@johnapabon Just cause someone says something doesn’t make any of it true. Taking apart the lies #shein told these influencers isn’t even that hard. #sheininfluencers #fastfashionfacts #greenwashing @Danidmc #sustainability
♬ original sound – Sustainability made simple
Initially, Carbonari doubled down, insisting that she had “so much awareness of what’s going on behind the scenes than any of you ever could” and that those outside of China “are fed propaganda.” The influencer also seemed to confirm that Shein organized the trip to assuage concerns over the working conditions of the factory laborers manufacturing its products.
“[Shein] brought this China trip to my attention, and they’re like, ‘You know, we’re aware of all these rumors and all this stuff that’s going on, and we want to put an end to it,’” Carbonari said. “We want to put our money where our mouth is, show you what’s going on, and for me to be confident in having a future with them or working with them.”
Days later, she reversed course and announced that she had terminated her relationship with Shein.
“I made a mistake,” Carbonari said in an Instagram post last week. “I made a huge mistake. I always try to lead with me, my younger self and my community in mind, and I let us down. I did us wrong.”
Shein, for its part, has insisted the videos and commentary shared by the influencers are “authentic” and said it respects and stands by the creators’ “perspective and voice on their experience.”
“Shein is committed to transparency and this trip reflects one way in which we are listening to feedback, providing an opportunity to show a group of influencers how Shein works through a visit to our innovation center and enabling them to share their own insights with their followers,” a Shein spokesperson said. “We look forward to continuing to provide more transparency around our on-demand business model and operations.”
The influencer trip and backlash come as chatter around Shein preparing to go public heats up. Though the company last week denied “rumors” that it had confidentially filed paperwork for an IPO after Reuters reported it had submitted paperwork to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the outlet on Tuesday cited at least six sources familiar with the fast-fashion e-tailer’s plans to potentially float a public offering in the U.S. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine forced Shein to scrap IPO plans last year and now it faces a firestorm as American lawmakers step up scrutiny of the company’s trade practices and potential links to forced labor.
A Shein spokesperson again declined to comment on the IPO rumors.
