A Target customer went viral after discovering a Shein label on a Shade & Shore bikini.
Thinking she may have uncovered something nefarious, TikToker Ashlee (@aarroyo1203) posted a video about the situation on July 4. It has generated more than 392,000 views in a single day.
“I need somebody to answer my question here,” she begins. “I’m at Target shopping for swimsuits, and I’m looking at this brand, Shade & Shore, right? Shade & Shore. Cute.”
@aarroyo1203 Are these the SAME company?! I need answers. @target #shein #shadeandshore #fastfashion ♬ original sound – Ashlee
As she speaks, Ashlee shows several bikini tops that she pulled off the rack. They are all the same style and color, and they all have Shade & Shore tags on them.
After a brief aside about whether the tops will fit, she shows the item that prompted her to make the video: a matching bikini bottom with a Shein label inside, even though it has a Shade & Shore tag on the outside.
“Are these the same company?” she asks. “When you try to make semi of an effort to not support fast fashion, and then you’re at a store and figure out that they might be made by the same people. What’s going on here?”
According to an article in Make Use Of, Shein is a China-based company that “produces its clothes in generic wholesale factories to keep its costs at a minimum. While this allows you to buy clothes at dirt-cheap prices, it poses an ethical dilemma. The working standards of Shein seamstresses are controversial, to say the least. According to the BBC, some Shein warehouse workers work upwards of 75 hours a week.”
The article continued, “While it has a base in China, there is no physical store or chain of shops responsible for managing orders. Shein began as an online retailer that only has occasional pop-up locations around the world, without permanent storefronts. Originally, everything on the site shipped directly from China. Now, the clothing on Shein comes from several wholesale warehouses around the world.”
Viewers attempted to answer Ashlee’s question in the comments section.
“Is there a Shein label inside all of them?” someone questioned. “I’m wondering if someone pulled a fast one on Target and returned those bottoms.”
Ashlee replied, “Nope, just the one so I think the same thing now. Maybe because it would never cross my mind to do something like this, I had no idea.”
Another commenter said, “I [used] to work at Target in the style department. someone probably returned it and the target employee did not look at the tag on the inside.”
Several viewers think profit was a motive. As one theorized, “Could be that someone re-tagged a Shein bottom with a SaS one. If a Shein = $5 and SaS is $25 they just profited $20.”
Another commenter, with advanced sleuthing skills, noted, “If you type in the DCPI #, a completely different swim bottom comes up on their website. The tag also states that it’s green, aka not the correct item.”
But some said it went beyond this one case. “I bought a graphic tee from shein in march,” one commenter charged. “Saw the same shirt, same brand on the tag…at my local target yesterday.”
The Daily Dot contacted Ashlee via TikTok comment and Target via email for further information.
