$5.36. $7.25. $9.82. These are the prices of clothing listed by the thousands on SHEIN’s website. With such appealing prices, how could anyone resist? As shoppers scroll down endless pages of trendy clothing, they can’t help but purchase every item that catches their attention. “One more couldn’t hurt,” consumers tell themselves — especially not at this price. Slowly but surely, unneeded but irresistible items fill the cart, racking the total into the hundreds. In no other universe would these crazy low prices be possible except in fast fashion’s shady and secretive world.

Oxford Dictionary defines fast fashion as “inexpensive clothing produced rapidly by mass-market retailers in response to the latest trends.” SHEIN started out selling cheap wedding dresses, but later turned to female clothing. Its popularity only skyrocketed as teenagers fell in love with SHEIN’s affordable and in-style clothing and bought products in massive “haul”-like quantities. In 2021 alone, SHEIN brought in about $15.7 billion in revenue, hit an all-time high of 43.7 million users worldwide, and increased its valuation by 840 percent (since 2020). These statistics compare fairly well for a solely online store in the fast fashion industry, with giants such as Pacsun, H&M, and ASOS bringing in $797.8 million, $23.07 billion, and $4.54 billion,  respectively.

However, taking a deeper dive into the world of fast fashion uncovers dark secrets hidden behind cheap clothing. Because the very purpose of fast fashion is to pump out new designs and get rid of the old, it encourages consumers to abandon products after only a few wears, solely because it is “out of style.” Fast fashion affects all areas of the environment, from mercury, lead, and arsenic levels rising in freshwater, to full landfills, extreme water consumption for cotton, and microfabric contamination in freshwaters. Business Insider states that “fashion production comprises 10 percent of total global carbon emissions... It dries up water sources and pollutes rivers and streams while 85 percent of all textiles go to dumps each year.”

Not only does fast fashion contribute to the decimation of our environment, but the process by which clothes are created is inhumane. There have been multiple reports made by workers in South Asian countries against fast fashion companies such as H&M and Gap, according to the Global Labor Justice Organization. They claim that over 540 workers that work for H&M and Gap have admitted to being threatened and assaulted in their workplace. The Guardian elaborates on this and shares the heartbreaking story of a worker who was yelled at by her supervisor for not meeting the quota, pushed onto the floor, kicked, and beaten across her body. Additionally, Yahoo News shares that consumers have found messages embedded in their SHEIN tags, reading “Help me,” “Send Help,” “SOS,” “I have dental pain,” and “Need your help.”  SHEIN denies all claims of cries of help by attributing these concerning messages to mistranslations.

What is left to do? Although it is unreasonable to expect all consumers to shop “cleanly” in our modern-day society, it is vital to make conscious shopping decisions. First, become educated on which stores you choose to purchase from. No company is completely innocent, but it’s better to support companies that have made changes to prevent harm to their employees. Secondly, shop sustainably! Buy only what is needed and stop impulse buying clothes that will eventually go to waste once fleeting trends change.