Shein

Offshore e-commerce platforms Shein and Temu have quickly captured a significant share of South Africa’s clothing, textile, footwear and leather market. Their growth, powered by low-cost international supply chains and aggressive digital models, has displaced local manufacturing sales and jobs.

Trump’s tariffs were designed to bring manufacturing back to the US but instead reshaped global supply chains. Ultra-fast fashion brands like Shein and Temu adapted by shifting production and targeting new markets like Australia. The result is an even faster, cheaper, and more exploitative fashion system with hidden environmental and human costs.

For every fashion brand aligned with Paris Agreement benchmarks, nearly six are increasing their pollution, says a new analysis by environmental advocacy group Stand.earth, whose 2025 Fossil Free Fashion Scorecard assesses the top apparel and footwear brands on several climate indicators.

Changes in consumer habits, new technologies and legislation can each help reduce demand for unsustainable fashion. The cost of cheap clothes worn a few times also adds up. Next time you buy clothing, think about the long-term value to you and the planet.

Recent investigations have revealed alarming levels of harmful chemicals in ultra-fast fashion items as retailers like Shein, Temu and AliExpress surge in popularity in Australia and across the globe.

As fast fashion and necessarily overproduction and overconsumption of clothes continues, fashion brands are going all out to woo the mindful consumer (read, women mostly), increasingly employing “woke” marketing tactics that illustrate a political and social awareness around race, LGBTQ+, feminism and the environment.