--- title: "Shein Caught Using CEO Killer Luigi Mangione as a Male “Mommy And Me” Model" description: "The fast fashion mega-retailer Shein has been caught using an image resembling accused CEO killer Luigi Mangione to sell a cheapo t-shirt." date: "2025-09-03" modified: "2025-09-03" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/shein-luigi-mangione-model" categories: - "Future Society" - "Health & Medicine" tags: - "ecommerce" - "fast fashion" - "luigi mangione" - "shein" --- # Shein Caught Using CEO Killer Luigi Mangione as a Male “Mommy And Me” Model ![The fast fashion mega-retailer Shein has been caught using an image resembling accused CEO killer Luigi Mangione to sell a cheapo t-shirt.]() *\Image: Shein / Futurism\* In the [roughly eight years]() since it burst onto the global e-commerce scene, the uber-cheap fast fashion marketplace Shein has been accused of everything from [stealing designs]() and [requiring exploitatively grueling shifts]() to [forcing China's Uyghur minority to work at its facilities](), and even working with suppliers that [used child labor](). Now, the Chinese-founded and Singapore-based online megaretailer is again under scrutiny due to a product listing whose model looks a *lot* like Luigi Mangione, the 20-something [alleged assassin]() of United HealthCare CEO [Brian Thompson]() last December. First spotted and [tweeted out by *Pop Crave*](), a massively popular X account that has become something of a [news wire for the social media set](), the fast fashion site's use of Mangione's likeness led to immediate derision online. https://www.twitter.com/PopCrave/status/1963048820025008269 "Seriously," remarked Tarence Ray of the "Trillbillies" podcast in a [post on X](), "how is this guy supposed to get a fair trial at this point\[?\]" "Prison industrial complex meets fast fashion industrial complex," [bemoaned Megan Hunt](), a state senator from Nebraska, in another X post. "So bleak. I hope he sues them." Beyond the well-deserved chiding, [many suggested]() that the beloved alleged murderer's face had been placed in the ad using AI tech. If that's the case, it unfortunately wouldn't be the first time Mangione's case has intersected with the tech: in the wake of his capture last year, people online began [making chatbots]() based on him, including ones that called for the murder of more CEOs. One thing's for sure: the real Mangione definitely didn't sit for a photoshoot, because he's [currently awaiting trial]() in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York. As [another X user noted](), it's bad enough that someone's "face can be used, without consent, to promote products that \[they've\] never even touched thanks" to AI, but also that whoever made the product photo used the "image of an incarcerated individual who has already lost all autonomy," is darker still. Yet another [X user posted]() one of the most salient points of the whole scandal: that a "multi-million dollar fast fashion company \[is\] using the face of an anti-elite individual to model their products through AI," which is an affront indeed. In a [statement to *Newsweek*]() after the image went viral, a representative from Shein claimed that the "image in question was provided by a third-party vendor and was removed immediately upon discovery." "We have stringent standards for all listings on our platform," the Shein statement continued. "We are conducting a thorough investigation, strengthening our monitoring processes, and will take appropriate action against the vendor in line with our policies." As an [archived version of the product page]() shows, the item — sold by a brand called "Manfinity" — is described in the inscrutable patois of fast fashion: "Men's New Spring/Summer Short Sleeve Blue Ditsy Floral White Shirt, Pastoral Style Gentleman Shirt For Everyday Wear, Family Matching Mommy And Me (3 Pieces Are Sold Separately.)" Whether Manfinity was the "third-party vendor" behind the since-kiboshed product image, we can't be sure — though we've emailed the brand just to check. **More on fast fashion:** *[Temu Addicts Suffering Withdrawal]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()