- Influencer Dani Carbonari posted a glowing review of one of the factories used by the fast fashion company Shein.
- Carbonari visited the factory on a trip to China sponsored by the clothing giant.
- Her followers have been criticizing her for failing to acknowledge the company's labor rights issues.
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An influencer and model is under fire for posting a beaming review of the fast-fashion brand Shein during a paid trip to Guangzhou, China, where she toured one of its factories.
Dani Carbonari's followers say she's dismissing the company's long history of poor working conditions and problematic labor practices.
Carbonari, who has nearly 500,000 followers on Instagram and calls herself a "confidence activist," chronicled her Shein-sponsored trip in a post and video tour she shared on Tuesday.
"It's hard for me to even put into words how this trip has impacted me," Carbonari wrote in the caption of her Instagram post. "I was really excited and impressed to see the working conditions," she continued as the camera panned to a clean, brightly lit factory.
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"I think my biggest takeaway from this trip is to be an independent thinker, get the facts, and see it with your own two eyes. There's a narrative fed to us in the US, and I'm one that always likes to be open-minded and seek the truth, so I'm grateful for that about myself, and I hope the same for you."
Carbinaro, along with fellow influencers Destene Sudduth, Aujené, Fernanda Stephany Campuzano, Kenya Freeman, and Marina Saavedra, were brought to tour Shein's "Innovation Factory."
Each posted similar Instagram posts following the visits, with eerily similar language. As Saavedra put it, "Like many others, I've heard a lot of misinformation," while Sudduth said, "I expected this facility to be so filled with people just slaving away but I was actually pleasantly surprised." (It's worth noting that the "innovation factory" is one of around 6,000 factories that Shein uses, according to Time magazine.)
Many in Carbonari's comments pointed out that the influencer seemed to gloss over an extensive list of labor rights violations that have been made against the fast fashion giant.
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A 2021 investigation by Swiss watchdog group Public Eye into 17 factories supplying items for Shein found that employees often worked in unsafe conditions. Several factory workers told researchers they worked up to 75 hours a week and got only one day off each month. None of them had been given an employment contract, they said, which is a violation of labor laws in China.
That same year, Shein was dinged by the UK for failing to make public disclosures about its factory working conditions. According to an exclusive Reuters report, the company falsely claimed on its website to have been internationally certified for having safe labor practices.
In October 2022, Britain's Channel 4 looked into the company's labor practices and found that employees from at least two of the company's factories worked 18-hour days and made the equivalent of $.02 cents per item.
Then in November 2022, Bloomberg released a report which found that garments made by Shein contained cotton produced in China's contested Xinjiang region. The US State Department banned cotton imports from Xinjiang in 2021 over concerns over human rights abuses of the Uyghur ethnic minority.
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Iman Amrani, the host of the Channel 4 documentary "Inside the Shein Machine: Untold," called out Carbonari publicly in the comment section of her Instagram post.
"I hosted the Channel 4 documentary that did the undercover investigation into factories that provide clothes to Shein," she wrote. "There is video evidence of laws being broken. They aren't rumours. It is very sad that you have decided to let yourself be used to defend these practices."
People especially took Carbinari to task for a part of the video in which she claimed to have spoken to a Shein employee who answered all of her questions "authentically and honestly."
"Girlbossing at the sweatshop," wrote one commenter.
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"You're not an investigative journalist," another added. "You're a puppet for a company that is actively destroying our planet and exploiting vulnerable workers.
—derek guy (@dieworkwear) June 23, 2023
Carbonari's blind support for Shein may have also led to a slight decline in her following. Over the last few days, her Instagram account has lost around 200 followers, according to the analytics site Social Blade. The backlash has been so widespread that her videos have gone infamously viral on other platforms, like Twitter, where users are trying to correct the public record about the company.
"I think Channel 4's Shein exposé is a much more reliable view of Shein's practices," one user noted. "It came out in Oct 2022, so i assume the company is now just roping in young influencers to help clean up its image."
Carbonari did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. Insider has also reached out to Shein for comment.
As someone deeply immersed in the realm of ethical fashion and labor practices, it's disheartening to witness instances where influencers, despite their large following, neglect the responsibility to critically assess the ethical implications of the brands they endorse. In the case of Dani Carbonari and her glowing review of Shein's factory in Guangzhou, China, it becomes imperative to unravel the layers of misinformation and obscured labor rights issues that have been overshadowed by the influencer's endorsem*nt.
Firstly, it's crucial to acknowledge the extent of Shein's labor rights controversies. A comprehensive investigation conducted by Swiss watchdog group Public Eye in 2021 revealed alarming working conditions in 17 factories supplying items for Shein. Employees reported working up to 75 hours a week, with only one day off each month, a blatant violation of labor laws in China. Equally concerning is the absence of employment contracts for these workers, further underscoring the company's disregard for fundamental labor rights.
In the UK, Shein faced scrutiny in 2021 for failing to make public disclosures about its factory working conditions. The company falsely claimed international certification for safe labor practices, as exposed by an exclusive Reuters report. Subsequent investigations by Channel 4 in the UK and Bloomberg in the US unearthed further evidence of exploitative practices, including excessively long workdays and the use of cotton sourced from China's contested Xinjiang region, implicated in human rights abuses against the Uyghur ethnic minority.
While Dani Carbonari and her cohort of influencers, including Destene Sudduth, Aujené, Fernanda Stephany Campuzano, Kenya Freeman, and Marina Saavedra, were given a curated tour of Shein's "Innovation Factory," it's important to note that this facility represents just a fraction of the approximately 6,000 factories used by Shein, according to Time magazine. The influencers' eerily similar language in their posts raises questions about the authenticity of their experiences and the transparency of Shein's efforts to address labor rights concerns.
The allegations against Shein are not mere hearsay but are substantiated by concrete evidence from reputable sources. A decline in Dani Carbonari's Instagram following, coupled with widespread backlash on other social media platforms, underscores the gravity of the situation. In this era of fast fashion, it is incumbent upon influencers to exercise due diligence, recognizing that their endorsem*nts carry ethical implications that extend beyond the allure of sponsored trips and glamorous factory tours.
As consumers, it is our collective responsibility to stay informed, support ethical practices, and hold influencers and brands accountable for their actions. Only through a conscientious and informed approach can we contribute to a fashion industry that values human rights, fair labor practices, and environmental sustainability.
