For instance, why is a “Shein haul” so cheap? What environmental costs are hidden behind ultra-low prices? What responsibility do shoppers have to understand where products come from and how they’re made? And just how much influence should algorithms have over what people buy?

These are the kinds of questions students grapple with in Lu’s FASH455: Global Apparel Trade and Sourcing course. Their conversations give the professor hope. 

“Students are not just consumers,” he said. “They are future industry professionals who realize that sourcing decisions have very real impacts on people and the planet.”

Here, Lu shares five things everyone — from prospective students to potential shoppers — should know about Shein.  

1. Shein changed the rules from prediction to reaction 

For decades, fashion companies relied on forecasting. Retailers predicted what consumers were likely to wear months in advance. Then, they produced large inventories, hoping their forecasts proved accurate. 

This led to waste. Lu’s previous research compared sales data to trade data and found that 30-40% of brand-new clothing imported to the United States never gets sold. 

Shein takes a different approach. Rather than trying to predict future trends, the company monitors social media, particularly TikTok, to understand consumer demand and respond in real time. 

2. Shein thrives on overconsumption 

While Shein decreases waste by reducing overproduction, it also creates a culture of overconsumption, warned Lu.  

“We’ve changed the problem from one thing to another,” he said, adding that environmentally unfriendly textile materials (low-cost virgin polyester instead of cotton, for example) reduce production costs while allowing the company to produce more, more, more. 

“Expensive clothes tend to have a longer life cycle because consumers will protect, even repair, them,” Lu added. “Now, the mentality is, ‘It’s so cheap, I’ll keep buying.’” 

3. Ignorance isn’t bliss 

Lu’s biggest hope for Shein is to increase supply chain transparency, beginning with a public release of their factory list. 

“We don’t know who’s making our clothes,” he said. “Workers’ stories are invisible.”

To elucidate this point, Lu rattles off a long list of questions Shein can't answer: How many factories make products for the company? What are their names? Where are they located? How much do they pay workers, and what are their typical hours? What’s the total water usage, energy usage and carbon emissions of their product?

“That’s why we need to push Shein to release more information,” Lu said. “If consumers only care about costs, that’s all the company will prioritize.”   

4. Knowledge is power  

If Shein’s labor practices become more visible, public policy could incentivize meaningful change, Lu added. 

For instance, legislators could develop fees for excess production to minimize damage caused by textile waste. Or they could mandate a minimum percentage of recycled content. Options exist.   

“They would naturally change the game and force companies to rethink their current formula,” Lu said.

5. Shein’s secret weapon? Data and demand. 

In conversation with Shein leaders, Lu learned that the company doesn’t care about replenishment rates (how quickly inventory is added or restocked). 

“The goal is to collect data,” he said. “The more data consumers feed, the more new products Shein can design and offer to the market.”

Overproduction is not a concern. The flip side?

“[Responding to demand] doesn’t give factories enough time to prepare,” said Lu. “The business model means the company doesn’t even know what products to make or how many workers are needed to complete the work.”

Instead, last-minute requests create “high-pressure, high-stress environments.”

It is, said Lu, the inevitable byproduct of a business model cut from a different cloth.