Fast-fashion brand Shein to list on the stockmarket

Fans of the Chinese fast-fashion brand may soon be able to own a piece of the company as it prepares to list on the US stockmarket in 2024.

Fans of Chinese fast-fashion brand Shein may soon be able to own a piece of the company itself as it prepares to list on the US stockmarket in 2024.

Fans of Chinese fast-fashion brand Shein may soon be able to own a piece of the company amid reports it is preparing to list on the US stock market in 2024.

Shein, beloved by Gen Z, sells its cheap and on-trend clothing, accessories, footwear and home items online to consumers in more than 150 countries globally.

Most of its products sell for between $8 and $30.

It has confidentially filed to list on the stock exchange in the US in 2024, according to The Wall Street Journal, in what the paper said could be one of the biggest US stock market listings in years.

Fans of Chinese fast-fashion brand Shein may soon be able to own a piece of the company.

Shein, which is now based in Singapore, was valued at around US$66 billion (A$99 billion) when it raised US$2 billion (A$3 billion) from financial markets earlier this year and it is likely to be valued at more than that if it goes public.

In 2022, Shein, now one of the largest fashion brands in the world, had been valued at US$100 billion (A$150 billion).

In 2021 it moved its headquarters from the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing to Singapore.

While the company hasn’t given a reason for the move, it does not sell its products in China.

However, most of its clothes are manufactured in Guangdong, the major manufacturing province in southern China.

More recently it has also diversified its supply chain by starting to manufacture some products in Turkey and Brazil.

Shein is the most popular online clothing retailer in Australia.

Earlier this year, Shein opened a weekend-long pop-up store in Sydney’s Parramatta.

It followed a similar pop-up in Melbourne in 2022.

It is the number one fashion retailer in Australia’s online shopping landscape with local sales of US$458 million (A$688 million), according to ECDB.

But Shein has come under fire for allegations of labour abuse, poor quality and unsustainable manufacturing output.

Fashion ratings website, Good On You, has dubbed it the “worst of the worst”.

“Aside from using a couple of eco-friendly materials here and there, there is no evidence the brand is taking any meaningful action to reduce its substantial impact on the environment,” the site said, giving the brand a score of ‘We Avoid’.

The company is reportedly planning to list on the New York Stock Exchange in 2024.

While the clothes are notoriously cheap, questions have been raised over the vast quantities of overstock produced by the business, which releases around 6000 new styles daily.

The use of polyester is also criticised. Not only is the synthetic fabric resource intensive to produce, the production of the non-biodegradable fabric releases micro-plastics into waterways.

Originally published as Fast-fashion brand Shein to list on the stockmarket