"SHEIN flotation would be 'badge of shame' for London Stock Exchange" 25 June 2024

Reacting to the prospective flotation of the ultra-fast fashion clothing manufacturer SHEIN on the London Stock Exchange, Dominique Muller, Amnesty International Researcher specialising in the garment industry, said:

It’s deeply troubling that a company with questionable labour and human rights standards and an unsustainable fast fashion business model could be set to reap hundreds of millions of pounds via a sale of shares and a listing on the London Stock Exchange...

The UK authorities and the London Stock Exchange should not facilitate SHEIN’s listing until transparent and binding safeguards regarding internationally accepted human rights standards covering its entire supply chain are agreed and applied, and any abuses identified fully remedied...

It is essential the new UK government does not allow a race to the bottom in terms of corporate and human rights standards. It should require companies to prevent serious environmental harms and human rights abuses occurring throughout their entire operations and supply chains...

SHEIN’s model involves subcontracting the manufacturing of garments down a chain of smaller producers in China - with little transparency and accountability for the pay or conditions endured by workers - and where there is no legal right to assembly or to unionise... Many of SHEIN’s garments are made from synthetic fibres derived from fossil fuels, which is environmentally damaging and unsustainable...

[Shein did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. LSEG declined to comment...]