Page 33 - ADU Voice Volume 5 Issue 1

Fall 2025 | Voice 33

CHEAP AT A PRICE: A SHEIN STORE INVESTIGATION

In order to lose her trail, my mother and I ventured down the staircase at the
far end of the store to reach the basement; this is where all of their shoes were
located. Most of the shoes, similarly to the makeup, seemed to be knock-offs
of brands such as Nike and Adidas. While they may have looked real to the
unknowing eye, according to TIME, Shein has a reputation for its blatantly
cheap copies. TIME, in an article, has stated that “Uniqlo, part of Fast
Retailing Co., sued Shein in Japan…” for cloning one of their signature
bag designs. Perhaps that explains the few original Shein shoes in
the pool of alleged counterfeits, and yet the quality was still amiss.

Finally, we made our way back up the staircase to the second floor, where
most of the clothes were. At this point, it was no surprise that the clothes were
either copies of other original brands, with very low-cost fabric, or Shein
originals with even more self-incriminating quality. In general, most of the
fabrics had an itchy, tissue-papery feel to them, like a very low-grade satin. The
clothes that were made of cotton—though few and far between—were rough
and tattered with lint fabric pills. The Medium writes, “... [a] fast production
process can lead to shortcuts in the manufacturing process, resulting in lower
quality items.” This statement is only vindicated by the fact that this floor
had such a surplus of these low-quality garments, one could almost drown.

If one surmised that the transition of Shein to an actual store would somehow
have raised the standard of quality and countered its cheap branding, as
projected online, then they would have surmised wrong. My visit to
the bricks and mortar store has led me to have one main belief: if your
practice is as unethical and unsustainable as Shein’s, then that look will
never go away. The store was messy—their products were unhygienic
knockoffs, and of a quality so low that even hell couldn’t compare.
It’s impossible not to believe that the people behind this company
are very aware of the cyclical nature of their store. We as
consumers in the 21st century, furthermore, must acknowledge
our own complicity. The back and forth of pop-culture trends,
which modern citizens perpetually devour and crave more
of, only aid in facilitating the cheap mass-production of
their line of not-so-good goods. In the end, the brand
oozes one thing in its motivations: disingenuity.

“THE BRAND OOZES ONE THING IN ITS MOTIVATIONS: DISINGENUITY”