Shein has become the most successful fast-fashion brand and it just might overtake some of your favourite brands like H&M and Zara. 

The Chinese retail brand started in 2008 just when the United States was going through a recession, owner and founder Chris Xu decided to build this brand and try to turn it into a success story. 

Today that success story is that this Chinese brand with rock bottom prices is turning heads, making money and selling more than the two biggest fast-fashion brands combined. Zara and H&M have been the leading sellers for young adults in the West, but in the last few years, Shein has overtaken these brands when it comes to many things including clothing, furniture, home and pets. 

What many might believe is that Shein was an overnight success story, but founder Chris Xu states that launching a Chinese company and making it successful in the West is very hard, but launching a company in the West and having its products manufactured in China is very easy. 

Xu took his approach very seriously, he took the idea of fast fashion and made it work, he made it affordable, with quick delivery and eventually it became popular in the West. 

As of right now, Shein has been on the up and up for a few years and from here on out it might keep succeeding. In 2020 when the pandemic hit and everyone started shopping online Shein became one of the brands that had everything everyone wanted. The brand was affordable, fashionable and highly accessible as it would arrive asap and come with free shipping. 

Everything that Shein has lined up is what makes them a better more successful retail brand, for brands like H&M and Zara, it may seem better because they are ‘in-store’ retail brands, but finding the items you want, going to the store to shop and having to return in-store has changed how the retail world works. With Shein, you are easily accessible to hundreds of products, with free shipping, free returns and all from the comfort of your own home. 

The brand has also changed in the last 2 years with the help of influencers, TikTokers and much more. The idea of fast fashion is replicating what high-end brands are pushing out when it comes to the styles of the year, for Shein they are just as fast in producing these items and allow for their consumers to consume the products they want for a price they can afford. 

A generation like the influencers on Instagram and TikTok is all about fast fashion, so if they are buying from Shein or buying from the high-end brands they are still influencing the younger generation to go shop from Shein. 

Shein and its work ethic have been making this the success story they wanted since 2008, and it is only going to get more successful as in-store shopping becomes less and less, and more fast fashion and affordable clothes become more popular. 

Article published by HOLR Magazine