In Paris, Shein anticipates Fashion Week with a show on the Seine. Could this chain-challenged fast fashion giant be a career accelerator for young fashion designers?

A riverboat on the Seine, the Tour Eiffel , the pont Alexandre III , the Big palace and sun. Can you dream of a better setting for a parade fashion? In the front row of the parade organized by Shein, Chinese fast fashion giant, reality TV stars and influencers from around the world. And it is lulled by the waves of the Seine that the models walked on an immaculate white catwalk.

Their outfits? They were signed by 25 up-and-coming stylists selected across Europe (France, UK, Spain, Italy...) by Shein and offered a mix of styles unexpected: leopard prints, trains, face jewels, balaclavas, gaiters… Creations worn by an inclusive cabin, escorted model after model by the authors of these garments during the final salute.

In short, this parade, which is the first organized as part of Shein X, the Chinese pure-player's collaboration program with creators, was a success. Yet originally Shein is the brand of ultra fast fashion par excellence. Created in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, it offers an online catalog of clothing at low prices, in which we find all the fashion trends of the moment. If the brand is often singled out in the media, it is because it encourages overconsumption by offering, according to a report by TF1 for 'Seven to Eight', broadcast in April 2022, until 10,000 new products every day . The show's journalists had access to a Cantonese factory that produces the brand's collections and observed illegal working conditions with 75 hours of activity per week and one day off per month. Young designers around the world are also speaking out against Shein when the company copy, sometimes identical , their work. The French label HouseCléo for example paid the price. So, would giving a showcase to 25 up-and-coming designers be a first step towards a more ethical future for the Chinese brand? Have.

Being scouted by Shein, what does it mean?

What is certain is that for Oxana (@oxanagoralczyk) et Maimouna (@unhuitmars), two of the French designers who took part in the event, the show Shein X Feel Da Vibe is a real springboard. Freshly graduated from their respective fashion schools, they have benefited from this show from an exposure they would not have dared to dream of. ' I was spotted thanks to my sketch instagram compte very followed [she has 102,000 followers, Ed]. At first, I didn't believe it. I was finally given the chance to create and sell my creations to the general public. Thanks to Shein, I was able to develop my universe mixing high fashion , period costumes French chic and modernity' , explains the designer. For Maïmouna (@unhuitmars), selected in a competition: ' This partnership was an opportunity to have total freedom of creation since it is independently that we work with the brand. We draw our silhouettes, then we send them to Shein who takes care of making them and putting them online .' Oxana agrees and adds: ' Most of what you get from working with a giant like Shein is visibility. Our creations can be purchased anywhere in the world! And then, we are also also remunerated since we receive a commission on the sale of us articles. ' Creations to be found, with those of the other participants, on the Shein site in the section Shein X Feel Da Vibe .

Source journaldesfemmes.fr