A cursory glance at TikTok in 2025 will present a bleak subculture of ultra-fast fashion fans.
The hashtag #sheinhaul has 1.3 million posts alone, with thousands of creators flaunting their parcel of cheaply made and rapidly shipped clothes that will likely slowly decompose in landfill for the next few centuries.
It’s never been easier to buy a dirt-cheap outfit online without breaking the bank after the likes of Shein, Temu and Fashion Nova became billion-dollar empires.
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For some, it’s costing less than a takeaway coffee. Scores of dresses on Shein are priced below $5.
Sustainable fashion creator and founder of Eco Styles Nina Gbor is swimming against the fast fashion tide – but it can feel like a losing battle.
According to ASIC, Shein’s Australian operation alone brought in close to $1 billion in sales and tripled its profits in 2023
Shein says it is not a fast fashion company and ‘operates a customer-driven, on-demand business model’.
“What’s gonna come next after ultra-fast fashion? Is it going to be instant fashion?” Gbor told 9news.com.au.
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“Is it going to be supersonic fashion, fashion at the speed of sound? It just seems to be getting worse and worse.”
US-born Gbor has built a career out of convincing the world to ditch fast fashion and embrace slow, ethical and sustainable clothing.
She’s run courses at RMIT University in Melbourne in sustainable fashion and textiles and founded Clothes Swap & Style, a clothing exchange platform.
After France introduced legislation which would make fast fashion influencing a crime by banning creators from doing paid or sponsored “hauls”, Gbor saw a seed of hope for the industry in Australia.
“Even in France, they know that it’s not going to end ultra-fast fashion because they’re multibillion-dollar companies and they’re very agile, but it’ll reduce it,” Gbor said.
“And yes, it can work in Australia.”
Do you have a story? Contact reporter April Glover at april.glover@nine.com.au
Gbor co-authored a paper on textile waste with the Australia Institute last year which recommended similar local legislation.
The report noted over 200,000 tonnes of clothing is sent to landfill in Australia each year.
Another 105,000 tonnes are exported, the vast majority of which ends up as waste in developing nations in a practice known as “waste colonisation”.
Given these overwhelming figures, Gbor believes swift government intervention is one of the few ways ethical fashion can reign supreme.
“I don’t think you can completely stop these old fast fashion brands because they have so much money,” she said.
“They’ll just find ways and loopholes. But what you can do is support Australian brands.
“We need the government to step in and support the industry, taxing fast fashion is one, banning fast fashion advertising is another and then funding Australian fashion businesses with marketing.”
Retail expert Lisa Asher from the University of Sydney Business School told 9news.com.au minimum standards across the board in Australia could shake up the fast fashion movement.
“Clothing items used to be made to last, now they are made to replace, and quickly,” Asher said.
“The government must provide deterrents for these suppliers to shift from disposable to durable.
“We have warranty periods on durable goods of two years under consumer law, this could be considered extended to clothing.
“Clothing should be tested to endure frequent use of one or two years, and a warranty to go with it.
“Expected life of the products, cost per wear, should be factored and communicated to consumers to make better choices.”
Asher said Australia should take France’s proposed ban one step further.
“Banning influencers promoting these brands, whether paid or not, should also be banned,” she added.
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“[And] we should ban advertising for brands which fail to meet environmental and durable standards.”
Gbor said the financial barrier to investing in sustainable fashion isn’t an excuse anymore.
Shein customers regularly fork out hundreds of dollars for a “haul” which could be redirected into one or two ethically made pieces which last for years, Gbor explained.
“I do not sympathise, I do not empathise with people who say, ‘Oh we’re in a cost-of-living crisis, all I can afford is fast fashion’,” she said.
“You can, you can host a clothes swap, you can get clothes for free, we have op-shops, second-hand markets, so I don’t buy that excuse.”
Asher agrees. She said pre-loved clothing is in vogue and should be the first port of call for shoppers.
But she said the staggering environmental impact should be impetus enough to stop buying cheap fashion.
“The rate at which we are polluting the planet, and the rise of fast fashion with every Australia throwing out 25 outfits a year, means we are increasing chances of environmental destruction, natural disasters, polluting our air and waterways,” she said.
“We are helping fix the planet, by erasing ourselves through our negligence.
“If we do not stop what we are doing, we will pollute the planet irreversibly in 30 years.
“The chemicals from making clothing, going into our waterways, put forever chemicals in our water, which are linked to increased risk of cancer. Forever chemicals means it’s forever.”
The rapid rise of Shein
Chinese-founded Shein, which is headquartered in Singapore, began shipping to Australia in 2022.
A huge percentage of its garments are made in the Chinese province of Guangzhou, where a rabbit warren of factories have been nicknamed “Shein village”.
A large chunk of Shein’s rapid sales growth has been credited to TikTok and YouTube influencers filming “haul” content after purchasing items from its site.
Shein generated a global revenue of $32.5 billion in 2023 and an estimated 88.8 million shoppers are active customers.
Shein’s statement in full:
Shein is not a fast fashion company. We operate a customer-driven, on-demand business model. Instead of predicting trends and customer demand, Shein leverages its digital supply chain technology to adapt our procurement decisions according to our customers’ preferences and purchases.
Our model is fundamentally different from traditional mass-production approaches, specifically in reducing excess inventory waste. We believe our approach represents part of the solution by reducing overproduction and waste at the source and maintaining affordability. Our focus on quality and value is why millions of Australian consumers choose Shein.
Shein is committed to reducing its environmental impact through initiatives like investing in textile-to-textile recycled polyester and decarbonising our value chain, guided by a science-based net-zero target. We believe these efforts are a more effective way to address the fashion industry’s environmental challenges instead of imposing restrictions on commonly used and accepted marketing activities.
Real progress on the sustainability agenda requires shared responsibility and collective efforts from our entire industry, and we stand ready to collaborate with relevant stakeholders in Australia to advance this in a fair and equitable manner.
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