The Hunger Games fans 'furious' at 'contradictory' collaboration with SHEIN
Fast fashion giant SHEIN has announced the drop of a new Hunger Games collection - but fans of the series believe it contradicts the novel's core message and have shared their outrage
Are you ready to hear about the weirdest fashion collaboration of the year? Fans are up in arms over The Hunger Games franchise's new collaboration with fast fashion brand SHEIN, which sees District 12 t-shirts, crop tops and phone cases selling for as little as £1.50.
The launch dropped on March 31, after global fast fashion retailer SHEIN announced its brand new The Hunger Games in collaboration with Lionsgate, featuring descriptions such as "Capitol chic" and "District daring". This comes after the release of Suzanne Collin’s latest novel in the series: Sunrise on the Reaping – which is set to be released as a major motion picture in 2026.
The Hunger Games has been one of the greatest cultural landmarks of the twenty-first century. The series, which is set in a dystopian near-future, focuses on a 16-year-old girl forced to fight to death for the entertainment of her evil overlords in the “Capitol”, before waging a large-scale rebellion. Collins' book trilogy have sold over 100 million copies worldwide, while four movies made from the books have grossed more than £2 billion globally.
Lionsgate representative Debbie Olshan said in a press release: "We are excited to collaborate with SHEIN to bring The Hunger Games fans a collection that lets them wear their fandom with pride. This collaboration blends fashion and film, enabling fans to express their connection to the story in a stylish and meaningful way.”
Except the fans don’t seem to be as excited about it as the movie executives are. In fact, users within TikTok's book community known as BookTok, were confused and outraged at what appears to be a complete inversion of the series’ entire message. Particularly given that the multi-billion dollar fashion brand isn’t without controversy.
One TikTok user asked in a viral video: “Is anyone else feeling weird about this? Like, don’t get me wrong, the merch is super cute, but surely a SHEIN collaboration is the opposite of the point?” The comments were quick to chime in in agreement, with one adding: “Please tell me this is an April Fools joke."
“This is like Greta Thunberg making a private airplane company,” another said. One suspected that Suzanne Collins would probably not approve of the collaboration, writing: “If Suzanne sees this she might write another book because it appears people are still missing the point.” The Mirror has reached out to Suzanne Collins for comment.
SHEIN has come under fire over recent years for multiple alleged unethical practices – not least its sustainability efforts. It was recently named the world’s most polluting fast fashion brand by Yale Climate Connections, as the company was found to spew out over 16.7 million total metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2023 alone. For context, that’s the equivalent of over four million homes’ energy usage in an entire year.
Plus, according to the company’s 2023 sustainability report, polyester makes up 76% of its total fabrics – and only 6 percent of that polyester is recycled.
For a book series that was dedicated to critiquing the worst of capitalism and its excesses, its collaboration with SHEIN comes across as something of a cruel irony. The company’s raison d’etre is to cater to overconsumption culture to its ultimate extreme: while Western buyers act like Capitol citizens, decked out in the latest extravagant styles, workers in other parts of the world suffer.
As one comment (depressingly) summed it up: “Who’s writing the dystopian novel about the clothing dump you can see from space and the microplastics leaking into everything? Oh wait a second…”