SHEIN is one of the fastest-growing e-commerce fashion brands among Gen Z consumers. With its affordable on-trend fashion, massive social media following, and targeted marketing, SHEIN provides an amazing opportunity for brands looking to expand their reach. One of the most effective ways to work with SHEIN is through an official brand collaboration.

What is a SHEIN Brand Collaboration?

A SHEIN brand collaboration involves creating a custom product collection that is sold exclusively on the SHEIN website and app. SHEIN partners with brands in many categories including beauty, accessories, footwear, and more to co-design collections catered to their audience.

The benefits for brands include:

• Access to SHEIN's young target demographic of 18-35-year-old women
• Increased brand awareness and sales utilizing SHEIN's global platform
• Cost-effective marketing compared to other platforms
• Endorsement from a Gen Z-approved fashion brand

The typical SHEIN collaboration process involves:

• Brands pitching SHEIN with collaboration proposals and product samples
• SHEIN approving and moving forward with select brands
• Co-designing the collection – products, packaging, marketing assets
• Launching and selling the collection on SHEIN's website and app
• Collaborative marketing efforts between the brand and SHEIN

Why Collaborate with SHEIN?

SHEIN has become one of the top online destinations for fashion and beauty shopping worldwide. Some key stats about SHEIN's tremendous reach:

• Over 10 million daily app visitors
• Orders shipped to 220 countries and territories
• 15.5 million followers on Instagram
• Over 30 million monthly website visitors
• Constantly ranking among the top shopping apps

Collaborating with SHEIN provides an unmatched opportunity for brands, especially smaller ones, to get their products in front of millions of new young customers. The time-limited exclusivity also creates urgency and buzz.

For cost-effective access to Gen Z shoppers in all markets, a SHEIN collaboration is a strategic move. The co-branded collections are also prominently displayed on SHEIN's website and social media.

What Brands Does SHEIN Collaborate With?

SHEIN partners with brands both big and small across fashion, beauty, and lifestyle categories. Some examples include:

Beauty:

• Kaja Cosmetics
• Smashbox
• E.L.F. Cosmetics
• Eos

Accessories:

• Casetify
• Doughnut
• Acccky

Athleisure:

• Puma
• Champion

Shoes:

• Jeffrey Campbell
• Public Desire

Specialty Fashion:

• Barbie
• Hello Kitty
• Badtz-Maru

The variety of brands indicates SHEIN is open to working with all types of products and price points, as long as the aesthetic and ethos align with their audience.

Requirements to Collaborate with SHEIN

To be considered for a SHEIN collaboration, brands should:

• Have an established reputation and track record of success
• Offer high-quality products at reasonable price points
• Have strong branding and marketing assets (professional photos, logos, etc.)
• Align with SHEIN's general aesthetic and values
• Appeal to 18-35 year old female demographic

Ensuring your brand has these elements in place will increase the chances of a collaboration proposal getting SHEIN's buy-in and interest.

How to Email SHEIN for Collaboration

Contacting SHEIN to explore collaboration opportunities starts with an introductory email.

Some tips for crafting an effective pitch:

• Send to the SHEIN email addresses provided for collaboration inquiries
• Introduce your brand, products, and credentials
• Emphasize your brand ethos and audience
• Explain why you're a great match for a SHEIN collab
• Include product samples if possible to give them a tangible idea
• Mention giveaways or influencer promotions you could organize

Following up is important if you don't get an initial response. Wait 1-2 weeks before politely checking in again and resending the proposal. Having website traffic, social media stats and reviews to demonstrate demand for your product can help too.

SHEIN Collaboration Proposal Template

Here is a template that can be customized by brands seeking a SHEIN collaboration:

Subject: Collaboration Proposal from [Your Brand]

Hi SHEIN team,

My name is [name] from [your brand], and I'm excited to propose an exclusive collaboration between our brand and SHEIN.

[Your brand] specializes in [describe your products and brand] that we feel would deeply resonate with the SHEIN audience. Some details:

• Over [XXX] Instagram followers and [XX%] month-over-month growth
• Sales in [XX] countries worldwide
• Featured in [media mentions]
• Ideal customer is [SHEIN target demographic]

We would love to explore co-designing a unique collection for SHEIN shoppers showcasing [product type] in your most popular and on-trend styles and colors.

Some ideas we have include:

[List ideas for items, product names, potential prices]

We're happy to send over product samples and photos as well for you to review for fit, quality, and uniqueness.

Please let me know if you would be open to discussing this further and potentially moving forward with a collaboration. I can be reached at [email and phone]. Thank you for your consideration – looking forward to partnering for a successful launch!

Sincerely, [Your name]

[Brand Website]

This serves as an excellent starting point that can be tailored to highlight your brand's specific strengths and assets.

Negotiating the Collaboration Deal

If SHEIN expresses interest, negotiations will begin to hash out the collaboration details. This could include:

• Revenue splits – typically 50/50 or 60/40 in SHEIN's favor since they drive the bulk of sales
• Wholesale pricing – they'll want 30-50% margins
• Promotion timeline – often 4-6 weeks from product design to launch
• Measurement KPIs – website clicks, impressions, units sold, etc.

Being flexible and reasonable in negotiations increases the chances of coming to agreeable terms. Ensure you consider production costs in the wholesale pricing.

Getting the Most Value from a SHEIN Collaboration

To maximize the benefits of partnering with SHEIN, brands should:

• Provide lifestyle product images – photos of people wearing/using the collection items
• Participate in giveaways and contests to build buzz
• Utilize SHEIN's huge reach for your own brand promotion
• Cross-promote the collection to your audience
• Apply for an affiliate program to earn commission on sales

This further boosts the sales potential and brand awareness upside of the collaboration.

Promoting Your SHEIN Collection Launch

Get the word out about your SHEIN collection by:

• Teasing launch images and details on social media
• Emailing customer lists about the exclusive products
• Having influencers review and promote the collection
• Running sponsored ads and content to your target audience
• Issuing a press release to media contacts

Start promotion 2-4 weeks ahead of launch and keep momentum going strong for the first 1-2 weeks of the sale.

Is a SHEIN Collaboration Right for Your Brand?

A SHEIN collaboration offers amazing opportunities but is not necessarily right for every brand.

Some pros:

• Massive new audience reach
• Increased brand awareness
• Sales from the collaboration collection
• Partnership with youth-approved brand

Potential cons:

• Requires high-volume production capabilities
• Short design to launch timeline
• Limited edition collections only

Best for brands that can meet production needs, appreciate SHEIN's audience, have innovative products and styles, and want to expand their customer base.

Not ideal for luxury brands or companies without sufficient operating capital and production bandwidth. But for the right brand, it can be an amazing growth catalyst.

SHEIN Collaboration Case Studies

Some brands have generated explosive growth through successful SHEIN partnerships.

Kaja Beauty:

• Saw 4X increase in brand awareness after 6 weeks of SHEIN collaboration
• SHEIN collection made up 60% of Kaja sales during the promotion
• Drove a 10X increase in website traffic during the launch

Smashbox Cosmetics:

• A curated collection of best-selling lipsticks and primers
• Products prominently displayed on the SHEIN website homepage
• Highest single-day sales in Smashbox history during collab promotion

E.L.F. Cosmetics:

• Created an exclusive 16-piece makeup set for SHEIN customers
• Featured on SHEIN Instagram with 3.5 million video views
• Sold out in 48 hours after launch and immediately restocked

These examples demonstrate the remarkable sales, reach, and brand lift SHEIN collaborations can provide.

Conclusion:

SHEIN provides a unique opportunity for brands to access the coveted Gen Z demographic in a creative, cost-efficient way. By developing exclusive collections tailored to SHEIN's young style-conscious audience, brands can achieve new levels of growth and visibility. With the right preparation, outreach, and negotiation tactics, securing a SHEIN collaboration is an achievable goal with immense potential rewards. The key is crafting a compelling aligned proposal, showcasing your products, and leveraging the partnership fully from launch through promotion. For brands ready to expand their horizons, a SHEIN collaboration could be a strategic home run.