Either way, you might soon be seeing more of Shein (pronounced “she-in”) and its mysterious billionaire founder in the coming days, as the hyper-fast fashion brand looks to file for a London stock market listing as soon as this week. According to insiders, the China-founded clothing giant — widely regarded by critics as “the unstoppable face of throwaway fast fashion” — is set to confidentially file its intention to float with UK regulators after tensions between Beijing and Washington threw a spanner in the works of its plans for an IPO in New York. If the plans are accepted, it would be one of the largest deals for the London Stock Exchange in a decade, with an initial IPO likely to value the company at around $66bn (£51.
7bn) — a boost to the beleaguered stock market after Brexit, but a kick in the teeth for UK fashion brands and a worrying middle finger up to campaigners calling for an end to the crisis that is fast fashion. Unethical factory conditions that some say verge on forced labour, “nightmare” environmental practices and alarmingly cheap prices fuelling unfair competition are among the criticisms of Shein in recent years. Tory MP Tom Tugendhat recently called the company a “sinister cross between surveillance and capitalism” for its race-to-the-bottom prices, wasteful consumerism and data harvesting (Shein has come under fire for using algorithms to spy on users’ internet browsing).
Just months later, his own Conservative colleague Jeremy .