Business | A new Chinese supermodel

Shein exemplifies a new style of Chinese multinational

The fast-fashion label has adapted to a more digital and less open world

|HONG KONG

AMANCIO ORTEGA, founder of the Zara fast-fashion empire, got his start selling bathrobes in northern Spain. Erling Persson of H&M peddled women’s clothing in a small-town shop in Sweden for decades before going global. Xu Yangtian had none of their tailoring experience when he founded Shein (pronounced she-in) in 2008. Instead, the creator of the fashion world’s latest sensation was a specialist in search-engine optimisation.

This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “A new supermodel”

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