Shein

The ultra-fast-fashion giant could be the biggest listing in London for years, but controversies around the company’s business practices and links to China are dragging on the process.

Spending has been sluggish, but retailers have a chance to make up for lost time in a compressed holiday season - if they can find an answer to their online competition.

The UK government plans to defer scrutiny of Shein’s potential London stock listing to the Financial Conduct Authority, avoiding a deeper examination of the Chinese retailer’s labour practices despite calls from some Labour MPs to strengthen protections.

Consumers are getting choosier about where they spend. Retailers will need to work extra hard to ensure it’s in their stores, and not competitors’.

Plans to begin taxing US imports worth less than $800 would shut a loophole that that has helped fuel the Chinese-linked e-commerce players’ growth.

BoF Executive Editor Brian Baskin dives into how Shein’s rise has upended the fast fashion industry and explores how H&M is fighting back with BoF correspondents Sarah Kent and Cathleen Chen.

The ultra-fast-fashion giant’s planet-warming emissions have nearly tripled in the last three years as its growth far outpaced other major fashion companies. In Shein's latest sustainability report, CEO Sky Xu says tackling emissions is “particularly critical."

The company said both cases had been “resolved swiftly,” with remediation steps including ending underage employees’ contracts, arranging medical checkups, and facilitating repatriation to parents or guardians as necessary.

The controversial e-commerce giant is on a charm offensive as it seeks to manage regulation that takes aim at fast fashion and drum up support for a possible London listing.

Amazon will struggle to beat Temu and Shein at their own game, and in the process, it risks devaluing what has become its core proposition: convenience.