We’re using our disruptive mindset to drive positive change in fashion and beyond by rapidly testing and scaling sustainable innovations.
Center of Innovation for Garment Manufacturing (CIGM)
The Center of Innovation for Garment Manufacturing (CIGM), established in 2022, conducts R&D in waste-saving and efficiency-optimizing technologies that can be scaled across SHEIN’s supply chain. It conducts knowledge-sharing and training for our supplier partners on the latest technologies and techniques, including on product quality, organizational management and workplace experience, to optimize efficiencies. It also offers consultancy services on factory site selection, facility design and layout.
In 2024, the CIGM was granted 11 patents and had 22 patents pending for new technologies and tools. The CIGM also developed over 60 new sewing and garment-making tools, providing more than 3,000 of these tools to our suppliers, resulting in average productivity gains of over 40% for the corresponding manufacturing stage. In 2024, the CIGM conducted 68 vocational skills training sessions for 1,121 participants across 968 suppliers in our supply chain.
Leveraging Technology to Rescue Excess Inventory
SHEIN’s partnership with Aloqia (formerly Queen of Raw) has grown since 2022. As of 2024, Aloqia’s proprietary software is now integrated into SHEIN’s sourcing system, enhancing the flow of information between the platforms about deadstock materials available for designers to use. This means more efficient execution in identifying fabrics that meet our strict sourcing criteria, procuring deadstock resources, and measuring the environmental impact savings from using these materials in place of newly produced textiles.
Since 2022, SHEIN has leveraged Aloqia’s advanced technology and network to procure over 47,900 metres of deadstock fabrics. This equates to estimated savings of over 357,600 cubic meters of water, over 7,400 kilograms of chemicals and over 70 metric tons of CO2e generated if equivalent materials had been newly produced instead of being reclaimed, as reported by the Aloqia platform as at the end of 2024.
“At Aloqia, we believe that the future of supply chains lies in innovation and circularity. Our partnership with SHEIN harnesses our cutting-edge technology to access available deadstock inventory from other companies to bring various fashion designs to life. Together, by continuously enhancing our software capabilities and optimising our business processes, we are paving the way for a more efficient global circular economy – where waste is minimised, and every resource is maximised, which also fuels business success”
Stephanie Benedetto, CEO of Aloqia
reducing water usage in fabric printing process
In 2021, SHEIN partnered with NTX® and adopted NTX®’s Cooltrans® printing technology to develop an alternative denim production process: Cool Transfer Denim Printing.
Cool Transfer Denim Printing combines printing equipment and technical solutions developed by NTX® with SHEIN’s agile supply chain management technology to produce custom denim designs in small batches with a fraction of the water-footprint associated with conventional denim. This allows SHEIN’s suppliers to produce denim products using 70.5% less water compared to traditional denim production methods.*
By using a reactive ink during the Cool Transfer Denim production process, SHEIN’s suppliers are able to print denim textures, artwork or patterns onto a transfer film. The designs on the transfer film are then imprinted onto white denim fabric using cold transfer equipment, replicating the denim washing effects.
*As verified by Bureau Veritas in October 2023