Dive Brief:
- Shein has created two independent advisory boards to help the fast fashion company reach its sustainability and corporate responsibility objectives, according to a company press release Friday.
- The External ESG Advisory Board, abbreviated as EEAB, will focus on sustainability and Shein’s ESG strategy and include independent experts in the field. The board will offer Shein advice on trends, risks and opportunities related to ESG, as well as provide feedback on the company’s existing initiatives, policies and practices, per the release.
- Shein also created a Regional Strategic and Corporate Responsibility Committee, which will track Shein’s global operations and expansion to ensure it contributes “positively to the country’s economic and social fabric.” Its first initiative will focus on the region that comprises Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Dive Insight:
Since its launch, Shein has faced criticism, controversy and regulatory action over its social and environmental impact.
The formation of these advisory groups marks another step the company has taken in working to clean up its image. One of its facilities recently received a third-party zero-waste to landfill management certification and Shein said it has implemented various efforts to address textile waste in its supply chain.
Leonard Lin, Shein’s president of EMEA and global head of public affairs, said in Friday’s release that the groups’ creation is meant to reflect its commitment to benchmarking its efforts “against global and local corporate best practices as advised by independent experts.”
The Regional Strategic and Corporate Responsibility Committee will advise Shein’s leadership through Lin, according to the release.
It consists of three independent members, Christophe Castaner, who chairs the supervisory board of France’s Port of Marseille-Fos; Nicole Guedj, former French Secretary of State for Victims’ Rights; and Bernard Spitz, former president of the French Insurance Federation.
The committees’ advisors will help Shein strengthen its business and implement its previously announced sustainability and social impact strategy, called EvoluSHEIN, Lin said in the release.
Meanwhile, the EEAB consists of four members, including Ram Gidoomal, formerly of CottonConnect; Xiaohui Liang, of the China National Textile and Apparel Council; Robin Millington, of Planet Tracker; and Christoph Wolff, formerly of the World Economic Forum.
Gidoomal will serve as chair of the EEAB. In the release, he said the board’s collective aim was to drive Shein’s progress in ESG and ensure its practices “uphold the highest standards of environmental and social responsibility.”
