The mysterious founder of Shein made a rare public appearance Tuesday to hail local government support that helped the Chinese fast-fashion giant grow into a global juggernaut.
Xu Yangtian’s speech was remarkable in part because of his incredibly low profile: Shein never made photos of him available, and even some of the company’s employees have reportedly struggled to identify him.
Xu’s remarks, which came as the EU is investigating Shein, also contrasted with the company’s yearslong efforts to distance itself from its Chinese roots and present as a Singapore-based e-commerce platform to attract global capital and avoid Western regulatory pressure. “So much for the past 2 years China-shedding,” one China business consultant wrote.