What can we learn from Shein's Milan pop-up success? Do we have any polyester?

Shein's first Italian pop-up opened in Piazza Gae Aulenti the day before yesterday. The first social media photos that we saw this morning show a gathering of young people of many different ages who, predictably, crowd in front of the entrance ready to buy cheap T-shirts, skirts, shoes, bags and every imaginable product but also to take photos or film videos for TikTok in the social-friendly corner that the store has dedicated to various hashtags and geotags. Once again, as was the case at the opening of Primark in Via Torino, fast fashion proves to hold the imagination, heart and wallet of Gen Z in a very tight grip - the reason for this success is, clearly, economic: cocktail dresses at €5, skirts that run between €7 and €10, heels at €20 and of course rip-off and prudently unlogoed bags at €30. What is most surprising, for those looking at the issue from inside the cultural fashion bubble, is the polarization of opinions around the Chinese brand: if within the aforementioned bubble Shein is looked upon with a certain disdain for many different reasons; outside the bubble, for young and old alike, it is seen as a kind of godsend, the brand that alleviates the peer pressure of capitalism in a world where even Zara is starting to get too pricey for some sections of the public. The problem then is not so much Shein as a phenomenon, but Shein as a consequence of a fashion industry that on the one hand instigates the public to consume by all means but on the other continues to exclude them with the pricing barrier in a dangerous upward game.

«Don’t hate the player, hate the game», they say. And indeed, how can one blame the audience for just wanting to live that dream that is promised but never given? Shein's enormous success should be attributed not so much to its specific business model but to the workings of the industry as a whole. A few months ago, an activist from Youth for Climate France accused LVMH of filling «public advertising spaces and inspire people to consume beyond all limits, including those who cannot afford their products». After all, it is the aspirationality of fashion that has decreed the success of Zara and H&M in the past, as well as that of Shein today and all other brands, luxury or otherwise: a rising tide lifts all boats.