Fast fashion brands like Shein prioritise low-cost, rapidly-produced clothing, leading to excessive resource consumption, exploitation of cheap labor, and massive environmental impacts. Their lack of transparency regarding supply chain practices and sourcing raises questions about ethical production standards and worker rights.

This fake promotional video and website explore a reality in which these consumeristic and unethical practices were applied to the research world and education industry. What if a fast fashion brand like Shein launched its own university, research would be produced as fast and cheap as possible and researchers treated like factory workers in sweatshops? Shein Academy shares a glimpse of this reality, which in a way already exists for many researchers. The constant pressure to produce and publish ever so quickly can lead us to wonder how far this « publish or perish » mentality could lead us. After fast fashion, fast research?