China’s fast fashion juggernaut SHEIN, known for its “real-time retail” model, has just named investor Marcelo Claure as its new group vice chairman.
Claure personally invested around 100 million USD in SHEIN before formally joining the company as an investor in January this year. Claure was instrumental in deepening the company’s supply chain networks in Brazil, where its third-party e-commerce platform SHEIN Marketplace launched earlier this year.
Now, as group vice chairman, the former SoftBank COO will be focussing on developing supply chains in more regions as the team gears up to bring SHEIN Marketplace to Europe in the next few months. By broadening its product offerings and opening up to third-party sellers, SHEIN is now competing directly with Amazon to become the world’s biggest online retailer.
“We are fortunate to have Marcelo’s unparalleled expertise at scaling global companies as we further expand Shein’s marketplace model, localization strategy and other key initiatives to further meet the needs of our customers in over 150 markets,” Donald Tang, executive chairman of SHEIN, said.
As of last month, SHEIN has committed 155 million USD towards improving its much-maligned business practices through its Equitable Empowerment initiative.
The first 50 million USD will be funnelled into an incubator program that will support 5,000 up-and-coming designers in building successful brands on the SHEIN platform, while a further 70 million will be used to upskill workers in SHEIN’s supplier ecosystems in Brazil, Turkey, and China. The final 35 million will be invested in social impact activities promoting gender equality in local communities.
“What attracted me to Shein, as both an investor and operator, is its unique business model and the way that it empowers designers and local suppliers in communities around the world,” Claure said in a statement.
“I look forward to working with the talented Shein team as the company delivers on its mission to make the beauty of fashion accessible to all.”
