‘Fast fashion’ boycott takes the shine off Shein
Monday, 22 September 2025
Raglan’s Xtreme Zero Waste is saying a firm “no thanks” to ultra-fast fashion giant Shein as poor quality fast fashion with no resale value swamps their opshop before usually ending up at the dump.
“Shein's impact is devastating for the environment, the garment workers, our community and our health,” said Xtreme’s communications lead Jemma Hovelmeier.
In July, Xtreme Zero Waste began its boycott of Shein garments, a decision that came directly from the shop floor where staff had noticed a growing stream of clothes flowing in from online fast fashion behemoth Shein.
Hovelmeier said the sheer quantity - and poor quality - of Shein garments coming in to their retail store Kaahu’s Nest was becoming a real challenge as many items couldn’t be sold and were being sent straight to landfill.
Shein is a Chinese-founded fast-fashion e-commerce company that sells clothing, accessories, and home goods at very low prices.
It operates as an online-only retailer with no permanent physical stores, and instead of expensive advertising, Shein relies heavily on influencers, TikTok trends, and Instagram marketing.
Most of Shein’s production happens in Guangzhou, China, close to clusters of small and medium-sized garment factories.
Allegations of poor working conditions, long hours, and low pay for workers have consistently surfaced, along with the copying of designs from independent creators.
Shein clothing is often made with low-cost synthetic fabrics like polyester instead of natural fibres, and focus on trendy looks, not durability, so garments are designed to be inexpensive and disposable.
“The idea [for the boycott] came from our shop merchandiser, Flynn McCann,” Hovelmeier said.
“He said it shouldn’t be our responsibility to deal with Shein - they’re the ones making this problem - so can we just not accept any of it?”
The rest of the team agreed.
“We shouldn’t be the ones mopping up their mess,” said Hovelmeier.
“These clothes are not designed to be reused or rehomed.”
Kaahu’s Nest staff are used to sorting through high volumes of donated clothing, but the demand for Shein clothing was minimal, she said.
“And it’s cheaper to buy on Shein than it is to buy in some reused stores.
“But that cost doesn’t reflect the environmental damage or the labour conditions behind these clothes.”
Shein’s ultra-fast production model means many items are produced cheaply, in bulk, and often not even sold - a model that undermines second-hand shops trying to promote reuse and waste reduction.
The materials are another problem.
“It’s easy to reuse cotton t-shirts, they make good rags,” Hovelmeier said.
“But it’s pretty hard to reuse shiny polyester Shein clothing that’s going to put glitter all over your car or your workshop when you’re trying to clean up.”
New Zealand has limited infrastructure for textile recycling, especially for poor-quality synthetics, and Hovelmeier said there are only so many creative solutions for dealing with it.
Xtreme Zero Waste shared their decision at the recent National Zero Waste Aotearoa hui in Tāmaki Makaurau, where the issue of fast fashion came up in discussions about op shopping.
Xtreme Zero Waste’s recycling centre has a contract with the Waikato District Council to operate Raglan’s resource recovery centre.
“We encouraged other resource recovery centres to consider saying no too,” Hovelmeier said.
“You can decide what you want to accept at your site, and we can’t keep up with the volume of this stuff coming into New Zealand.”
The response has been overwhelmingly positive.
“We have an amazing community here in Raglan, but it’s been nice to see the ripple effect.”
She said one teacher in the Zero Waste Network got in touch to say she was using Xtreme’s online posts in a classroom unit on fast fashion.
“It’s great to see people responding. Once you start to understand what’s behind it, and see those pictures of Shein dumping clothing in deserts and on beaches, you realise we don’t want that in Aotearoa.”
Hovelmeier said in the first month of the boycott, staff “rehomed” 2248 items of clothing, and punters were happy they didn’t have to sift though isles of fast-fashion to bag a bargain.