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Later this month, students at Barbara Goleman Senior High will strut down an auditorium runway to showcase designs they created in their fashion marketing class. The show is meant to celebrate the young students’ talent and craftsmanship.
But behind the spotlights and polyester is a partnership with a company that has courted controversy in the past: ultra-fast fashion giant Shein.
The Singapore-based retailer — long criticized for environmental damage, labor exploitation, and selling problematic items like swastika necklaces — will once again partner with the high school to put on its fashion show.
According to a press release from Shein, the company will “support the showcase by providing clothes and accessories that complement and enhance the students’ original designs.” The grand-prize winner is set to receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Shein’s Los Angeles headquarters, while other students will take home Shein gift cards.
In a statement to New Times, Shein spokesperson Remy Campbell said that the company’s relationship with the high school began in early 2024, when a student reached out to the brand and invited it to speak to her school’s newly formed fashion marketing class about the industry.
Campbell said the company “immediately connected with the students and [was] inspired by their passion, creativity, and talent.”
“The partnership aligns with Shein’s mission to make fashion accessible to all, while providing students with meaningful real-world exposure, resources, and mentorship opportunities,” Campbell told New Times via email. “We’re excited to continue partnering with the school and building on this momentum.”
Dr. Manuel Sanchez, the principal at Barbara Goleman High School, did not respond to emailed questions from New Times about why the school chose to partner with Shein and whether concerns about fast fashion, labor practices, or environmental impact were discussed during the planning process.
A spokesperson for Miami-Dade County Schools did not respond to New Times‘ request for comment about the school district’s involvement with the partnership.
Over the past several years, Shein has partnered with colleges across the United States in what some critics have described as an attempt to “greenwash,” or rehab, its environmentally problematic image.
“Shein’s prime target market is Gen Z,” Sheng Lu, a professor of fashion and apparel studies at the University of Delaware, told Forbes. “[It] may feel that having a partnership with a university may make them more appealing to their customers.”
In 2022, Indiana University became the first American university to partner with Shein for a program that would teach students about international business and commerce. But just months after the school proudly announced the partnership was a “natural fit,” it quietly cut ties with Shein after students voiced concerns over the company’s labor practices.
The following year, Shein announced that it would partner with the Fashion Institute of Design & Manufacturing in Los Angeles to give 12 students a $40,000 scholarship to the school. Students like Lexy Silverstein were outraged over the partnership, calling the move “hypocritical and shocking” for one of the world’s top sustainable fashion schools.
She launched a petition to end the scholarship, which has since been signed by nearly 5,000 people (the school’s total enrollment is notably less than 2,000 students). It’s unclear whether the partnership is ongoing.
