Shein Plans to Hire 1,000 Designers Through Its Incubator Program

Shein Stagecoach — Shein was Stagecoach's first fashion partner. Courtesy Photo

RISE AND SHEIN: While gargantuan tech companies like Meta, Amazon and Microsoft have been reducing their workforces, the e-commerce conglomerate Shein is ramping up its employee base.

Having invested more than $55 million to onboard nearly 3,000 designers and artists into its incubator program, the e-commerce giant Shein plans to hire 1,000 more this year as part of its Shein X incubator program.

Kicking off this month, Shein has partnered with the Graduate Fashion Foundation to support the Shein X fashion design competition, an event where on-the-rise European designers will duel to try to be featured in the Shein X fashion show in Paris in June. The competition will be conducted in English and applicants must be at least 18 years old, among other rules.

The winner of the Shein X competition will land 10,000 euros, while the second- and third-place finishers will each receive 8,000 euros and the other seven finalists in the top 10 will each take home 5,000 euros. After designs are mutually approved and produced, they will be sold on the Shein platform with designers receiving a commission from the sales of their respective collections.

Launched in 2021 with seven designers, Shein X has doled out $5.37 million in commissions to incubator designers, the company said. That tally was said to be “the vast majority of profits” from the sales of Shein X products through 2022. To date, nearly 2,000 collections featuring 25,000-plus original styles have been introduced. Shein X designers own the rights to their Shein X designs, according to the company.

Through Shein X, up-and-comers learn the ropes of product development, manufacturing, marketing and supply chain logistics. They have access to Shein’s real-time site analytics to respond to consumer demands in real-time.

The company has been making inroads in the U.S. With plans to hire 850 workers for a new distribution center in Whitestown, Indiana, Shein partnered with the Center for Education and Research in Retail at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business last year. The company also plans to hire a few hundred more employees this year, and is actively expanding its operations in the Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. area. In addition, when Christian Siriano, who previously helped judge a Shein-supported design competition with Khloe Kardashian, was honored at the Fashion Group International’s “Night of Stars” last fall, two of his guests — models Daphne Velghe and Emily Kammeyer — donned looks from the MOTF x Christian Siriano work collection, from Shein’s premium brand.

With an estimated $24 billion in sales, Shein received a $100 billion valuation from General Atlantic, Tiger Global Management and Sequoia Capital China last spring. The Chinese fast-fashion conglomerate has come under fire alleged designer knock offs, poor working conditions, unfair labor practices and environmental waste.

Last year’s debut of Shein Resale was greeted with criticism by some, given the company’s reach. Shein X alone has 30 drops per month.