Shein Apologizes Over Alleged Religious and Cultural Appropriation

Let’s talk about Shein, Recently, they have gotten backlash in selling products that are subject to misinterpretation and of cultural and religious appropriation.

Shein is a Chinese fast fashion brand that was discovered to be selling Islamic prayers mats as “Greek fret carpets” or decorative mats. These mats featured mihrab designs, which is a symbol common on prayer rugs that are modeled after a niche in the wall of a mosque that points to Mecca, which is where Kaaba is located. It represents the direction of where the prayers are performed.

These prayer mats should NOT have shoes placed on them. The prayer mats actually need to be put in a clean place and used as a regular place to connect with God. Khadija Rizvi, 24, a journalism graduate student at the University of Salford posted on her instagram page about the prayer mats and her post went viral.

Thereafter, Muslim fashion influencer and inclusivity activist, Nabela Noor called Shein out on this product. With a million followers, the news took off like wildfire. Shein was accused of cultural and religious appropriation. The product placement was seen as insensitive and consumers felt it was inappropriate to sell a religion based item in exchange for profit.

Shein was also called out for selling sleepwear that imitated cultural clothing on white models.

Shein later apologized on its social media stating that:

Oopsie number two:

Thursday, July 9th, Shein was found selling Swastika pendants, which were not clearly marked as a Buddhist swastika. They were being sold for a mere $2.50 dollars. For those unaware, the Buddhist swastika has symbolized spirituality and good fortune for more than a thousand years. These necklaces were mistaken as a symbol of the Hitler regime because the product did not include any description or explanation.

Shortly after social media outrage, the pendant was taken down for lack of insensitivity. Shein stated that their necklace and design was intended to be a Buddhist swastika. In their second social media apology on Friday, July 10th, they stated:

Shein reiterated they had formed a product review committee where staff from different cultures and religions would strive in preventing future incidents. They also stated they will cease the sale of religious items and improve the product selection process. This was important in the face of allegations that they were unabashedly appropriating religious items and promoting anti-Semitism.

But, are you surprised they have not one or two but three oopsies this week?

Keep this third mistake insight of their most recent apology to be “actively working through our internal structure and processes to resolve these issues” and striving to be a “ global and all-inclusive brand and we are taking extreme measures to ensure that all items are cleared through a rigorous vetting process before we retail them."

So, it was discovered that Shein was selling Allah necklaces as part of a fashion pack. The fashion pack contained 96, Babygirl and Scorpio necklaces. This is a concern for Muslims since the necklace was not marked in the product description of its religious origins. In addition, Muslims wearing this necklace need to be careful because they can’t enter bathrooms with it on.

Shein did not address this in their most recent apology, although they could have. For angry consumers, it was taken as a reminder of continued insensitivity and appropriation of symbols sacred to different cultures and religious beliefs. They want Shein to do better and have suggested they temporarily take down their whole website to do a thorough inspection of its products to avoid these mistakes in the future.