Hope Hicks and Shein Collab on Shady Consulting Deal

While there is no perfect post-Trump senior aide trajectory for those craven enough to have spent time in that man’s inner circle, consulting for a fast-fashion brand that allegedly utilizes slave labor is about as close as it gets. That’s what former Trump comms director turned Fox Corp comms officer turned Trump and Jared Kushner personal aide (another seamlessly evil ascent) Hope Hicks is up to these days—spending her one precious life on earth helping Shein make shitty clothes that won’t last even a fraction of a percent of said precious lifetime.

According to Politico’s Dan Lippman, Hicks’ small consulting firm has been working with Shein for the past year, advising them on strategic communications. Shein’s labor practices are about as ethical as their clothing is durable, which is to say not at all. Founded in China in 2008 and now based in Singapore, the e-commerce retailer has been accused of abusing Chinese labor laws, stealing IP from small designers, contributing massively to the environmental crisis, and utilizing forced slave labor tied to the ongoing Uyghur genocide.

Perhaps it makes sense that Hicks, who is so practiced in turning a blind, smokey eye to unfathomable cruelties during her time as Trump’s right-hand woman, is teaming up with such a deeply unethical company. Also, it can’t be overlooked that working with a fast-fashion company is a return to her roots—and frankly only professional experience pre-Trump—which was as a model for Ivanka Trump’s fashion line. 

Along with an absolutely misguided and disastrous June 2023 influencer brand trip aimed to calm critiques of the company (also where many of us were introduced to Dani Carbonari, the infamous confidence activist), Shein has also been hiring lobbyists to mitigate their reputation in Washington D.C. But where things get even more sus is that Hicks and her consulting agency are not registered with the Foreign Agents Registration Act, meaning their work with the overseas retailer is in violation of the act’s terms and is punishable by up to five years in prison or a $250,000 fine.

A Trump loyalist with simultaneous loyalties to foreign entities is hardly a surprise at this point, but it never fails to impress me just how dogged these fools are in skirting the law. If Hicks is ever held responsible for these shady relationships, I suppose she won’t have to shell out much money for a tacky-ass, poorly-made, girlboss suit to wear to her hearing.