Fast fashion brand leaves people horrified after 'swastika necklace' was discovered for sale on their website

A global fast fashion website has been forced to apologise after inadvertently selling a necklace with a golden swastika on it.

The website, SHEIN, is a fast fashion retailer that also sells homeware. Just last week, they were criticised for selling rugs that looked like prayer mats that Muslims use, which are considered sacred and carry a lot of significance.

This week, a Twitter user posted a photo of the ‘swastika’ necklace, which was retailing at $2.50

On Twitter, people pointed out that the direction of the symbol could mean that it was in reference to the symbol’s original use as a sign of divinity and spirituality in Buddhism and Hinduism.

Yet, the swastika is obviously widely recognised as a symbol associated with the Nazi regime – and people understandably argued it should never have been advertised in the first place. SHEIN seems to post listings from a range of independent suppliers, and this may indicate some cracks in their vetting process.

Shein did remove the necklace on Thursday afternoon. By this point, a petition was already circulating which would “ban shopping” at SHEIN, although it’s not clear what exactly this would entail and who would be banned.

Only four days ago, SHEIN had made a similar statement on their Instagram about the prayer mats which they were selling – they said that they were also forming a ‘product review committee’ with staff members to ensure that such a mistake didn’t happen again (it seems like they may not have formed that product review committee quickly enough).

SHEIN apologised in a statement on Thursday to the Daily Dot. They clarified that the necklace was originally intended to be a Buddhist pendant, but accepted that they had made an error.

“However, because we understand the two symbols can be confused, and one is highly offensive, we have removed the product from our site,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

“As a multicultural and global brand, we want to apologise profusely to those who are offended, we are sensitive to these issues and want to be very clear that we in no way support or condone racial, cultural and religious prejudice or hostility.”