Commentary: SHEIN shines with new “dapper Dollar” collection

SHEIN has promised to build better price points for the cost conscious consumer: The tantalizing apple of this promise?

SHEINs official collaboration campaign art can be found exclusively at Dollar Tree, SHEINs online website and everywhere sustainable SHEIN-haulers frequent.

Gazette illustration/RUBY CONGER

SHEIN’s official collaboration campaign art can be found exclusively at Dollar Tree, SHEIN’s online website and everywhere sustainable SHEIN-haulers frequent.

The promise and the price: 

 Enter a long awaited collaboration with Dollar Tree.

 Gone are the days where SHEIN  breaks the bank.  

“We truly care about and appreciate our customers’ fashion where they can be the most stylish for the least amount of money,” said Vice President of Marketing Cheapé Dogooder.

Ten dollar dresses. Twenty dollar coats. Three dollar tanks. Now exclusively offered alongside the dapper dollar collection. .

“We’re changing our ways,” said Dogooder. “This collaboration with Dollar Tree came with a great cost.”

Dogooder is referring to the collection’s promise to plant one tree for item sold. A bold move meant to appease the eco-conscious objectors to SHEIN.

“For every tree planted, we promise to sell one dollar by the year 3500,” said Dogooder. “We’re very selective with our partnering, we specifically partnered with Dollar Tree because we exclusively identify with dollars and trees.”

The new collaboration is bolstered by the strength of their sustainable marketing the millions of walking and talking SHEIN ads on TikTok. 

Slim teenage girls in soft earth tones with plants lining their shelves. Beneath these plants bloom the seeds of SHEIN’s newest campaign, in the millions of Ziploc-like bags all of the (Dapper) Dollar collection items come in.

The new transparent packaging, Dogooder explains, is representative of SHEIN’s commitment to transparency 

“The single-use plastic bags are so sheeny and sustainable and the polyester in most of the pieces is all the rage in the sustainable fashion industry” said Consúme Eilat, a high fashion influencer with 600,000 TikTok followers in a pre-released haul video.

Balancing the desire to be both sustainable and saver, followers look to influencers like Eilat for all the latest in “green” fashion and now to Dollar Tree.

 

The people: 

Current consumers are dubiously hoping SHEIN will stay dedicated to its promises to cut costs. 

“I purchased 900 truckloads of SHEIN on a whim,” said Way-Too Trendy, a TikToker and eco conscious consumer with a self-described minimalist style. 

With a practiced sigh, Way-Too Trendy rummaged through the SHEIN bags. As the articles of clothing fell to the ground, they fell in a solemn procession, one by one, until she herself sank to the floor burdened by the weight of all the expenses.

“I just really wish SHEIN would more carefully consider its cost and environmentally conscious customers like myself,” said Way-Too Trendy. “They are still way too expensive to buy a small thousand pound haul every week.”

Tracing one finger down a mile-long SHEIN receipt, Way-Too Trendy sighed as she hugged one of her tiny plants in consolation—a small plastic tree. 

“After buying just this minimal haul, I only have a dollar left,” Way-Too Trendy said. “I guess that’s why I frequent Dollar Tree so much.”

With enthusiasm, Way-Too Trendy swiftly disposed of  five thousand of SHEIN’s transparent packaging bags. 

“I’m hopeful though” remarked Way-Too Trendy. “SHEIN’s new Dapper Dollar collection has restored my faith in the brand. As a proud Gen Z and a tree hugger,”—here Way-Too Trendy gestured to the small forest of her plastic plants— “It just makes me feel good to know they care about the environment and their consumer’s wallets.”

 

The potential: 

In SHEIN’s virtual hands lies the promise of Gen Z’s fashion future. A future where their wallets will bleed for economic justice.

Where millions of rabid, teenage consumers toss their coin lost in the addictive feeding frenzy that is wear, toss and repeat will be further fueled by the ferocities of social media.

The horizons and skies will begin to blaze bolder, outlined in the vast mountains of trashy clothing—out with the old, in with the new.

The sweatshop workers are singing amidst their 75 hour labor weeks, humming to the thread that keeps us firmly tied in the fabric that is being a fashion insider. 

Thank you Dollar Tree. Thank you SHEIN. And an extra large thanks to all the sustainable SHEIN haulers out there on TikTok .

Why be out of style, when you could be she in?