A group of American fashion influencers has come under fire for attending a fully paid trip to tour one of fast-fashion giant Shein’s factories based in Guangzhou, China.

The influencers—Dani Carbonari, Destene Sudduth, Aujené, Fernanda Stephany Campuzano, Kenya Freeman, and Marina Saavedra—were flown out to China as part of a tour sponsored by Shein in June, according to multiple social media posts.

The clothing giant, which has repeatedly faced scrutiny over its alleged connection to human rights abuses, unethical labor practices, and claims it has stolen designs, referred to the influencers as “partners” and “designers” in one social media post.

According to videos shared on Twitter and Instagram by both the company and the influencers, the women were able to see how Shein products are designed, made, and packaged when they visited the factory.

In one video, influencer Carbonari, who describes herself as a “confidence activist” can be seen explaining how she is surprised to find the factory is “less human run” and more about “technology and automation.”

“Now I can go home, feeling reassured and feeling confident in my partnership with Shein, working for Shein and being a consumer of Shein and I feel comfortable spreading that message to my community and to my family and friends,” Carbonari concluded.

In the same video, another influencer, Sudduth, explains how she enjoyed visiting the factory and having a “real” experience. “It wasn’t like we just got pictures and videos of these warehouses or facilities, we were actually there,” she notes.

In another video shared by Carbonari on her personal Instagram account, which has since been deleted, she said she sees her describe herself as an “investigative journalist” and recaps how she allegedly spoke with a Shein factory worker who claimed to be “surprised by all the rumors that had been spread in the U.S.”

According to Carbonari, the factory worker told her “honestly and authentically” about “her family, her lifestyle, her commute, her hours.”

“I think my biggest takeaway from this trip is to be an independent thinker, get the facts, and see it with your own two eyes. There’s a narrative fed to us in the U.S.” about Shein, she said, adding that the trip had been in part to “seek the truth.”

“I expected the facility to be so filled with people just slaving away, but I was actually pleasantly surprised that most of these things were robotic,” influencer Sudduth said in another video posted to TikTok. “Honestly, everyone was just working like normal, like chill, sitting down, they weren’t even sweating,” she said, adding that most of the Shein employees had told her they worked from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and only had to commute “10 to 15 minutes” to work every day “just like normal.”

Other influencers insisted in various videos shared online that the factory employees were earning a decent wage for their work and outright denied reports of child labor and inhumane conditions.

Further videos show some of the influencers appearing to fly to China in business class plane seats for the trip and enjoying buffet-style dinners before being greeted at the airport by Shein representatives with flowers and other gifts.

Another post by Campuzano shows her staying in the Four Seasons hotel in Guangzhou and enjoying massages and a 10-course meal.

The group has been facing backlash on social media over the fully paid-for trip, which people described as Chinese “propaganda.”

Singapore-based Shein made $24 billion in 2022, thanks in part to its low-priced items which have surged in popularity as fashion-conscious consumers are tightening their belts amid increased inflation.

However, the fashion giant has also faced increased scrutiny following a 2022 undercover documentary by the UK’s Channel 4 which found factory employees working up to 18 hours a day with just one day off every month and earning next to nothing.

A prior report published in 2021 by Public Eye found that some Shein workers in Guangzhou were working in “informal” workshops with no emergency exits and with barred windows, and others were working 75-hour work weeks with one day off a month, in violation of Shein’s Supplier Code of Conduct, and Chinese labor law, which explicitly states that a work week cannot exceed 44 hours.

Child worker and forced labor rumors have also plagued the company, which serves customers in America, Australia, Europe, and the Middle East, and it has also been hit with multiple copyright lawsuits, including from fellow fashion house Levi Strauss.

The company has repeatedly denied the various accusations.

Following the backlash, one of the influencers, Freeman, told CNN that she has received an “unprecedented” amount of criticism online which she claims has impacted her mental health.

“I couldn’t even go on to Instagram yesterday,” the Atlanta-based designer said, adding that she herself is not responsible for Shein’s actions.

Carbonari, meanwhile, posted a 12-minute video acknowledging she “should have done more research” before accepting the free trip.

“[Shein] brought this China trip to my attention, and they’re like, ‘You know, we’re aware of all these rumors and all this stuff that’s going on, and we want to put an end to it,'” Carbonari, said in the video.

“This whole experience has caused me to reevaluate myself, my brand, and to fight even harder for sustainable options for plus size people, and to just be so much more particular with who I’m working with,” she added.

In a statement to CNN, a spokesperson for Shein claimed that the social media videos posted online by the influencers were genuine and authentic.

“Shein is committed to transparency and this trip reflects one way in which we are listening to feedback, providing an opportunity to show a group of influencers how Shein works through a visit to our innovation center and enabling them to share their own insights with their followers,” the spokesperson said.

The Epoch Times has contacted Shein for further comment.