Shein is giving budding fashion designers the chance to win $100k in its “Shein X 100k Challenge” which will be judged by a panel including Khloé Kardashian.
The fast fashion giant will give 30 emerging fashion design talents the chance to compete for the top prize in a competition that will be televised over four episodes.
The finalists are then flown to Los Angeles where they will work one-on-one with judges before the winner is chosen.
The judges panel includes pop culture icon Khloé Kardashian, fashion designer Christian Siriano, InStyle style director Laurel Pantin and others.
While on the surface this seems like a positive move from Shien, the company has recently come under fire for copying designs from indie fashion labels.
Khardashian and the other judges have received thousands of comments on Instagram criticising their participation in the competition.
READ MORE: Shein – The mystery behind the largest ecommerce company in the world
“Shein steals from small creators,” one follower posted on the social media platform.
Another said: “Fast fashion is not sustainable. Disappointed at the news you’re advocating this.”
Shein makes up 28 per cent of the fast fashion sales in the US, adds 1,000 new styles a day and currently has more app downloads in the US than Amazon.
According to research by Coresight Research, about one-third of respondents to its survey said they had purchased clothing and footwear for the mysterious apparel company.
The company’s business practise relies on the efficiency of its supply chain as well as data collection.
If an item is getting traction on the website by way of clicks or purchases an algorithm will expand the manufacturing quota and updates the supplier factory floor in real time in order to make sure they have enough materials ordered.
This allows Shein to vastly cut down its timeframe between product design and manufacturing from weeks to days.
