Several influencers were lambasted this week for social media posts enthusiastically highlighting a trip sponsored by the Chinese fast fashion clothing retailer Shein, which has previously been accused of labour exploitation and environmentally damaging practices.
Carbonari doesn't share the questions she asked nor the responses she received, but says the woman told her about her family, her hours and her commute. Shein is best known for selling on-trend garments at cheap prices, like a $13 dress or a $3 T-shirt, producing aboutof clothing per day. Its website was among the 100 most visited sites on the internet in the last month, according to website analytics firm SimilarWeb.
"There's a difference between an influencer trip that includes subtle product placement or even product endorsement … and an influencer trip that essentially serves as propaganda for a company," said Haberman. The company has long been accused of a lack of transparency and of greenwashing, in which an organization misleadingly presents itself as eco-friendly. A 2021 CBC MarketplaceIn November, Bloomberg reported that the cotton used in the company's clothing could be traced to China's Xinjiang region, where the country is alleged to have committed human rights abuses against the minority Muslim Uyghur population, including forced labour.