veryryuch.
>> M mpleasure, john.n.
John: It's easy to see the
alalre of fast fashion ---
affordableletrendy clothes that
land I stores as soon as thee
style E in vogue.
The industst is valued at over
one hu$ndrededillion and these
brands are particucurly popular
with young consumers..
But the E dustry is under
rutiny for poor workinin
conditionsnsnd using cheap
textiles that end upupn
landfillllafter only a few
wears.
Ali rogin tells us H H Chinese
cocoany Shein, one of thee
fastest-growowg fast fashion
brands in the world,d,s trying
repair its public imama, and
the reaction to it.
Reportrt: Recectly, Shein
ininted a group of influenenrs
from the video sharingngpp
tiktokokn a paid trip to its
so-called innovationonactory in
angzhou, China.
Ththinfluencers posted glolongly
ababt the company and thee
factory'conditions.
But that is just O O of the
cocoany's 6000 factoriri and its
tete F ftories.
Ininther facilitits, -- 6060
factoriesnd test factories.
In other facilitits Shein has
, faced accusations S worker
abuse and of using M merials
linked to uyghur S sve labor.
E company denies this.s.
Joururlist Iman amrani
investigated S sin in the
cumentary inside the S sin
chine.
>> I feel L ally tired.
Hausted.
Reporter: And Iman amamni joins
memeow.
Iman, thank you sosouch for
joining us.
Iman, tell U more about the
accusations thatathein faces.
>> We discoverededhat they were
ople who were working G hour
ys, which is against T T law
in China.
It's also againststhein's code
of conduct.
People were given N E day off a
month and many peoplplcame to
the factory and D ved nearby in
these kind of F rmitories, which
meant theyeyouldn't visit theiei
familili and they couldn'go
back H he very easily or they
would D ve their paid docked..
There were other C ccerns about
the fact that the E vironment
was very prereured because
because the productiononevel is
high and so fast.
They have to makakso many items
of clothing and they H he to
work O commission.
So it means that it's a very,
ry stressful environmeme to
work I and not one that I thihi
most peoplplwould want to work
in.
>> Let's Tata about the
relationshsh between Shein and
tiktok andndther social media
influencers.
There's a Veve symbiotic
lationship here.
But tell us about T W the
cocoany has used these
individuals to P pmote
themsesees.
>> Welel Shein as a brand
doesn'n't really have a faceceas
were.
So the influences thatatt
partnersrsith become the face ofof
the Branan
so thehepartner sometimes withth
micro-influeueers, which are
influencers wiwi around 10,000
followers ororess, who generate
trust with theirirollowers
because it's S small community
of followers.
They feel very C cnected to
ose influences.
But the influencererwho went on
this trip, some of thehehave
half a aillion or a million
followers.
So they really W wk with
inflflncers across the spectctm,
hoping T tt they will advertisee
to cononmers that will spend
money Y th them.
Reporter: Anannow tell us a
little bit more abououthe
backlala that's happened T T
these influencers thatatent on
thisisrip.
It seems that ththconditions
at they spotlight in T T
videos thahathey produced in the
content that C ce out from the
trip was very differert from the
nditions that you and D ur
colleagugu on covered in your
documentary.
>> Yes.
Well, I wawaquite surprised when
I saw the videde that were
sted by these influencnc,
because I haha seen the
undercover footage thahaour
journanast found.
And it was I ieresting that when
these E fluencers, when they
were describininthemselves as
investigative joururlists
jokikily and saying that thehe
were speakakg to these workers
who seemed very Y ppy but also
didn't seem to bebeaking many
ems of clothing.
It L lked like a showroom toto,
the place thatathey were taken
to.
And as you H he said in the
introduction, , ere are many,
many suppliers thahamake clothes
for Shein.
So I don't think it's actutuly
very honont to try and portray
thth one factory as being G
place E ere the clothes that
people buy on the websbse are
comimi from.
Reporter: Is it your
understandininthat other fast
fashion companans also engage in
these sort of tactcts, or is
shshn a bit of an outlier?r?
>> I would say that mama, many
clothing compapaes are engaging
in S silar tactics, but not T
the extent that thth are.
Ey outstririall other fast
fashion N ands.
It is the biggesesfast fashion
brand in theheorld.
It has more Google S srches than
ke, for example.
And I think K at the point about
the fofos on Shein is because E
is the biggest, it setetthe tone
.
If it is engagagg in really
gressive ways of makinin
clothes ananmarketing to people,
en other companies andndther
brands are going T tfeel like
ey need to compete wititthat
by doioi the same thing.
Reporter: The influlucers
themselves have coco under a lot
of criticism F F going on this
trip, for acacpting Shein's spinin
without realal challenging it.
Whwh do you make of that
criticism?
>> Ihink it is reallynfair
for the criticicis to be laid at
the feet of the I iluencers.
The responsisility is with the
brand and as I sayaythe brand
esn't have a face,e,o the
inflflncers become the face E
the brand D D you end up with
people arguing a AUT the
inflflnces and forgetting ababt
the bigggg picture here, which
is about what T E brand's
practices are like..
And I I ink it's also unfnfr to
put ininuencers in this
position.
There is a reason whwhthey don't
invite journalisis to come and
have a tour of the facacries.
Ey invite influencers who
operate in a C cud ecocomy.
They are P pple, young people,
who are aspiratitial.
They W wt to be seen to be
fashionable and D seem to be be
seen to be in demama.
They've been flown out to C cna.
Although I do thininthat now
thth've definitely hahaa
backlashsh
and I thininthat we need to take
a step back frfr that and keep
focusing on the Branan
reportrt: In deployoyg this
trip, they have comemender
criticism for only seeming too
recruit inflflncers that
present that representnt
marginalized O Oen communities,
including a plus S sed
influencnc influencers of color.r.
What do you U ke of that
iticism?
What do you make of F at
obobrvation?
>> Well, I couldn'n't directly
speak to what T eir intentions
were, but I would sasahaving
lookok at the way that they
market genererly and doing all
the resesech that I have done, I I
thininthat they are very savav
out audiences.
They know thth young people are
more I io accessibility in
fashion and thth want
representation.
And I also thihi that by using
minority influences S people
whwhare underrepresented I the
fashioioindustry, it means thaha
we kind D have these arguments.s.
We talk abououthe fact that it
is difficucu to buy clothes that
fit plus size E men, but that
isn't the focus.s.
And the focucuhere is about the
practices.
And eye all women should be
abab to buy clothes that M me
them feeeecomfortable, but it
shouldn't T at the expense of
people who are W king in
factories S D having to make
those clothes.
Reporter: Journalist Iman
amrani, the documentntian behind
ininde the Shein machine,,
untoto.
Thananyou so much for joininin
us.
>> Thank you for H hing me.