The Shein workers distress calls theory lacks evidence - the theory that Shein's workers launch distress calls using the labels gains weight on the networks, but not evidence.

A conspiracy theory claiming that workers at Chinese fast-fashion retailer Shein are sending encrypted messages to ask customers for help has gone viral, despite there being no evidence to back up these allegations.

Specifically, there have been several TikTok videos that move the theory following a label sewn on some garments that said: "Do not dry clean due to water-saving technology, I need your help to wash with mild detergent the first time," according to an information from Rolling Stone

Thus, the videos claimed that the text "I need your help" was an encrypted distress call, when the label is just a mistranslation of the cleaning instructions, while there is no evidence that any worker is tied behind it.

Some claims that have also been debunked by the verification website Snopes that called them, mostly, false and pointed out that it was not clear to which clothing brand that label was endorsed.

Shein workers distress calls

On TikTok, videos about the same theory have more than forty-one million views and have received more than six million likes since it was posted last month. The content verifiers found that the graphic test mixed disparate information and unrelated incidents over the past decade, while excluding more context.

In fact, one of the clothing labels shown in the video features the words "HELP ME," but it is not from Shein. Another tag shown in the video had the phrase "I have dental pain", although that image was posted on Reddit 8 years ago and seems to have no relation to Shein.

The TikTok video also showed a news story from a local media outlet detailing a 2015 incident in which a woman in Michigan found a plea for help in a package of underwear. That garment was manufactured in the Philippines by Handcraft Manufacturing Corporation, a New York company.

Shein has denied the allegations in a statement posted on her TikTok account. “Recently, several videos were posted on TikTok that contain misleading and false information about SHEIN," the company's statement said.

"We want to make it noticeably clear that we take supply chain issues seriously. Our strict Code of Conduct prohibits suppliers from using children or forced labour and we do not tolerate any type of non-compliance," it continued.

Shein workers distress calls claims

But the truth is that despite these claims that are false, Shein and other fast fashion companies have come under scrutiny for their impact on the environment and their working conditions.

So much so that a report by the Swiss watchdog Public Eye alleged that several members of Shein's staff worked 75 hours a week and would do so with three shifts per working day. Conditions that clashed squarely with what Chinese labour legislation says, which specifies that a working week must include a maximum of 40 hours.

In fact, some of Shein's supplier facilities were illegally set up in residential buildings and did not have proper emergency exits or windows, Business of Fashion reported last year.

But that is not the end of it, because the company has also been regularly accused of stealing its designs from other designers. This is the case of Levi's or the shoe manufacturer Dr. Martens, but the real war is being lived on TikTok between the designs of the Chinese company and Zara, owned by Inditex.

Shein is known for its extremely low prices - ranging from euro to 100 - and its huge product variety: it launches an average of five hundred products a month.

Shein workers distress calls revealed

The company's business model is based on excessive consumption, as its customers are rewarded with more benefits based on how much they spend. A seamless gear that keeps gaining followers.

Even though everything that surrounds the Chinese company is an enigma, its omnipresence is putting it on the radar, including that of investors. The same ones that have made their valuation grow to the barrier of 100,000 million dollars (about 95,000 million euros), a figure that even the giant Inditex does not reach, after the latest corrections suffered.

Its figures are coupled with its enormous presence in Europe and especially in the United States, where in June last year, it had already cornered 28% of the fast fashion market, according to research by the analysis firms Coresight Research and Earnest Research.

But also on social networks, where he gathers a legion of loyal followers. From January to April, it received 13.8 million downloads on its app compared to 9.2 million for the same period in 2021, an increase of 50%, according to what Bernstein analysts pointed out.

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