Shein
Shein is a global e-commerce platform specializing in fast fashion. While the company primarily focuses on women's clothing, it also offers men's apparel, children's wear, accessories, cosmetics, shoes, bags, and other fashion items. Shein mainly focuses on Europe, America, Australia, and the Middle East along with other consumer markets worldwide.
Founded in Nanjing, China, in October 2008 as ZZKKO by entrepreneur Chris Xu, Shein grew to become the world's largest fashion retailer as of 2022. The company is currently headquartered in Singapore.
Known for selling relatively inexpensive apparel, Shein's success has been credited to its popularity among younger Millennial and older Generation Z consumers. The company was initially compared to a drop shipping business, as it was not involved in design and manufacturing, instead sourcing products from the wholesale clothing market in Guangzhou. Beginning in 2012, Shein began to establish its own supply chain system, transforming itself into a fully integrated retailer. The company has established its supply chain in Guangzhou with a network of more than 3,000 suppliers as of 2022. However, it has faced controversy due to the reports of Chinese sweatshops and child labor.
In 2022, the company moved its headquarters from China to Singapore for regulatory, international expansion, and financial reasons – while keeping its supply chains and warehouses in China. In 2023, Shein generated US$32 billion in revenue. Shein was valued at $100 billion after a funding round in April 2022., it was valued at $30 billion.
According to Bloomberg Businessweek and others, Shein's business model has benefitted from the China–United States trade war, particularly with regard to customs tax advantages. In recent years, Shein has found itself in the middle of trademark disputes, lawsuits involving competitors, and product safety concerns, as well as accusations of tax evasion and being involved in labor law and human rights violations.
History
2008–2012: founding and early business model
Shein, originally named ZZKKO, was founded in China in 2008 by entrepreneur and search engine optimization marketing specialist Chris Xu. Information on Xu's educational and career background remains elusive as of 2022, with sources conflicting on details of his biography. According to The Guardian, some sources have described him as a Chinese-American who graduated from George Washington University. However, other sources indicate that Xu was born in 1984 in Shandong province, and was educated at Qingdao University of Science and Technology. The Guardian notes that Xu is depicted in Chinese media coverage as an average student of poor origins. Shein has insisted that Xu was born in China.The website SheInside.com was registered in March 2011, advertising itself as "a worldwide leading wedding dress company", although it sold general womenswear as well.
At the time, Shein had no involvement in the design or production of the garments; it functioned similarly to a drop shipping firm, which sells items from third-party wholesalers directly to international customers.
2012–2019: rebranding and retailer status
Shein made their products available in Spain, France, Russia, Italy, and Germany in the early 2010s; in addition to selling women's clothing, the company sells cosmetics, shoes, purses, and jewelry. In 2012, the company established the current website and began using social media marketing by collaborating with fashion bloggers for giveaways and advertising items on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.In 2014, Shein acquired Romwe, a Chinese e-commerce retailer, making it a "fully integrated retailer." By 2016, the company had 100 employees and had already established its headquarters in Guangzhou. The firm's name changed again in 2015 from Sheinside to Shein, claiming that it needed a name that was simpler to remember and easy to find online.
By 2016, Xu gathered a team of 800 designers and prototype makers that manufactured Shein-branded clothing. The company began improving its supply chain, excluding vendors that provided low-quality items or photos.
Registration in Singapore
In 2019, Singapore-registered Roadget Business Pte listed Chris Xu and others as representatives. By 2021, Chinese corporate filing shows that Shein de-registered its main business, Nanjing Top Plus Information Technology Co Ltd. Singapore filings reportedly shows Roadget as the legal entity operating Shein's global website and owns Shein's trademarks.2020–present
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, it reportedly made $10 billion in revenue, making it the seventh consecutive year of more than 100% sales growth for the company., Shein was the world's largest online-only fashion firm. Shein was noted for being an early adopter of TikTok as a promotional tool, and the firm's ability to advertise viral items boosted its popularity.By November 2021, Shein grew from a company valued at $15 billion to one valued at $30 billion. According to Ernest Analytics, Shein became the largest fast fashion retailer in the United States in 2021, and had also launched online in Mexico.
According to an investigation by Rest of World, Shein added anywhere between 2,000 and 10,000 individual styles to its app each day between July and December 2021.
A survey of 7,000 American teenagers in 2022 ranked Shein as their second favorite e-commerce website.
In early 2022, Shein moved its headquarters from China to Singapore.
In April 2022, Shein raised $1 billion to $2 billion in private funding and claimed 28% of the US fast fashion market., it is the largest fast-fashion firm in the world. In a May 2022 article in Fortune, the company was described as catering to Generation Z consumers while using big data and rapid Chinese manufacturing to quickly design clothing at lower prices. The company was valued at $100 billion.
In October 2022, The Wall Street Journal reported that Shein generated US$24 billion in revenue in 2022, becoming almost as large as traditional fast fashion brands such as Zara and H&M. Its other competitors include ASOS, Fashion Nova, Forever 21, PrettyLittleThing, Temu, and Topshop. In August 2023, Shein and SPARC Group entered into a joint venture where each company acquired a minority stake of the other.
Expansion in North America and potential IPO
Shein launched their marketplace, featuring third-party vendors, in Brazil and the United States in May 2022. In 2022, Shein established a distribution center in Whitestown, Indiana, with plans to open more distribution facilities in southern California and northeast US. In November 2022, Shein opened a new corporate office and distribution center in Markham, Ontario, to function as Shein's main distribution hub in Canada. Sales in 2022 were $23 billion.In July 2023, Shein announced to investors it had seen its highest recorded profits for a first half of a year. The company had an estimated value of $66 billion, a drop from the estimated $100 billion in value in 2022, according to The Wall Street Journal. In February 2023, Marcelo Claure was appointed chair of the Latin American operations of Shein. According to reports, in 2023, although still domiciled in Singapore, Shein sourced primarily from manufacturers in China. In 2023, Shein had 100 factories in Brazil, and had outlined plans to increase that number to 2,000. In June 2023, the company faced an online backlash after international influencers toured and promoted its facilities in China.
In 2023, The Information reported that Shein representatives had informal discussions with U.S.-based tech giants Amazon and Google about a potential investment in the company. The report notes that the company was expected to debut on the New York Stock Exchange in the future. In August 2023 Shein received a temporary restraining order in the US against its competitive rival Temu on a trademark infringement case. They also were involved in US lawsuits against each other with accusations of monopolization. In June 2023, the company announced plans to open a warehouse in Mexico for a "bigger foothold" in Latin America. In December 2023, Temu sued Shein, alleging illegal interference with its suppliers.
In June 2024, Shein announced that it filed on the London Stock Exchange for an initial public offering, which generated criticism from human rights groups. In April 2025, the Financial Conduct Authority approved Shein’s initial public offering prospectus. In April 2025, Bloomberg News reported that the Chinese government had blocked attempts by Shein to diversify its supply chain away from mainland China. Also in April, Shein raised the prices of its products for customers in the United States due to tariffs imposed by Donald Trump on goods imported from China, and in May 2025, Bloomberg News reported that Shein's IPO plans had stalled due to the effects of these tariffs. Shein also failed to secure the approval of the China Securities Regulatory Commission to list in London and is instead considering a listing in Hong Kong, according to The Guardian. Shein is reported to consider moving its headquarters back to China in order to sway the Chinese government to permit an IPO in Hong Kong.
Lawsuits with Temu
In December 2022, Shein sued Temu alleging that Temu had enlisted online influencers "to make false and deceptive statements" about Shein to promote its own goods.In August 2023, Shein sought an injunction against Temu, filed in London's High Court, alleging the company had "identified thousands of instances" where Temu's sellers copied its listing photos. Shein requested all violating posts be taken down and at least £100,000 in damages.
In February 2024, Temu hit back with a counterclaim in February, accusing Shein of breaking British competition law by tying suppliers of fast-fashion products to exclusive agreements, a claim it values at 4.2 million pounds and which Shein denies. Temu also alleged that Shein "bullied, intimidated, and even detained" suppliers in China as part of a campaign of "mafia-style intimidation". Their cases at London's High Court are expected to come to trial towards the end of 2026.