Shein and Forever 21 have joined forces. To ensure that there would be more and more fast fashion and that it would go on and on, and on?

Good news for fast fashion. Better news for consumers of fast fashion. Horror for sustainability. As if Shein—often described as “the world’s most popular fast fashion brand”—isn’t big enough. Now the Singapore-headquartered Chinese online fast-fashion e-commerce platform has struck a deal with American fast fashion offline retailer Forever 21 to bolster each other’s presence in the cheap clothing marketplace. According to a Fortune report, Shein is set to “acquire roughly one-third of Forever 21’s operator, Sparc Group.” The return is that Sparc Group will receive “a minority stake” in Shein. It appears that Shein will be selling Forever 21 products on their website and Forever 21 will carry Shein merchandise in their reported 540 stores worldwide, but not in East Asia.

Forever 21 has not really been on anyone’s mind here since they left our island in 2021 with the closure of their last store at 313 Orchard (the space was taken over by Puma). We are not sure if Shein’s partnering Forever 21 is thrilling news to shoppers here who are probably used to purchasing Shein’s staggering array of fashion (and not) online, without the brand’s brick-and-mortar presence. The tie-up will likely be of bigger significance in the US, where the Chinese-founded brand is determined to make a bigger impact, and has been eyeing to be listed there. Shein has tried a pop-up (for viewing the clothes) and a permanent store in Japan, but they have not committed to opening more stores elsewhere; certainly not here, where their corporate office is sited.

The move by Shein appears to strengthen their position in the fast fashion sphere and to stay ahead, especially when other Chinese players too are targeting the US market. It seems that Shein is undaunted by Temu taking them to court for what the latter described as “unlawful exclusionary tactics”. But Shein has not been easily discouraged by inconveniences such as lawsuits or reports about questionable production and labour practices. Or fallouts from misguided influencer marketing. They have never slacked from the puported 10,000 new items available to buy each day. Despite their app being the most downloaded in the world last year, which suggests admirable reach, it appears that Shein still desires to go further by availing their apparel in physical stores so that even more American customers are able to buy their products. Is world domination next, if not yet so?

Illustration: Just So