Five years after ban, Shein is back in India. Or is it?

NEW DELHI: Despite declaring "The OG is back", Chinese ultra-fast-fashion giant Shein's Jan 31 comeback in India was a low-key one as it relaunched its website and app after a nearly five-year ban. The question now is whether the garment powerhouse - popular in the US, Europe and the Middle East, and arguably an OG, or "original gangster", that changed the retail game with low-priced, ultra-fast-fashion e-commerce - can recover lost ground in India. Shein was banned after three years of operation in June 2020, along with 58 other apps, as India imposed restrictions on Chinese businesses shortly after a border clash between the two countries in which soldiers were killed. Bilateral ties spiralled downwards and more apps were subsequently banned due to national security concerns. But with the recent warming of diplomatic relations, several Chinese companies such as Shein, smartphone gia...