French politicians are escalating their fight with Chinese online fast-fashion retailer Shein, threatening a ban over childlike sex dolls on its site, just as the company plans to open its first-ever permanent shop in Paris.
After France’s consumer watchdog found sex dolls resembling children for sale on Shein’s platform, finance minister Roland Lescure threatened on Monday to block Shein’s access to the French market if it ever sold such dolls again.
Shein said it had sanctioned the sellers and implemented a ban on sex dolls. The Paris prosecutor’s office said on Tuesday it was investigating online retail platforms Shein, Temu, AliExpress and Wish over alleged dissemination of contents including child pornography on their marketplaces.
Shein, one of the world’s biggest fast-fashion retailers, had already sparked anger among French politicians and retailers over its low-cost business model and, most recently, its plans for the concession outlet set to open on Wednesday in Paris department store BHV. Other outlets will open later in Galeries Lafayette department stores in five regional cities.
On hearing of the Shein shops, Véronique Louwagie, France’s commerce and small business minister until September, began organising against them.
She phoned the president of Galeries Lafayette, the mayors of Angers, Dijon, Grenoble, Limoges, and Reims, where the Shein outlets are planned, and the head of French public bank Caisse des Dépots, which was meant to fund a BHV real estate deal, she told Reuters.
The campaign illustrates the coordinated effort by French politicians, retailers and regulators to oppose Shein’s expansion and protect high street retailers, ahead of tough new legislation on online platforms which Shein has fought against.
SHEIN ‘DESTROYS SHOPS’
French lawmakers say Shein’s rapid growth is driven by an unfair advantage: a customs duty exemption on low-value ecommerce packages that allows it to sell at rock-bottom prices. Meanwhile, French fast-fashion chains like Jennyfer and Naf Naf have gone into bankruptcy.
“Shein impacts the vitality of our regions, destroys jobs and destroys shops,” Louwagie told Reuters.
Shein argues its “on-demand” business model, with factories making small batches before ramping up if a product sells well, is more efficient, and that its online marketplace can help French brands and retailers reach more customers.
Shein was approached to set up the French outlets by Société des Grands Magasins (SGM), which has been trying to turn around the struggling BHV and regional Galeries Lafayette department stores and hopes the launch will attract a younger clientele.
Galeries Lafayette, however, said last month that the Shein concession stores would go against its values, and on Tuesday said it had agreed with SGM to end their franchise agreement – meaning the regional department stores will no longer carry the Galeries Lafayette name.
SGM has yet to decide on a new name for the five former Galeries Lafayette stores, a spokesperson said.
“We believe in Shein’s project,” said Karl-Stéphane Cottendin, general director at SGM, in an interview with BFM TV on Monday. “There’s some controversy surrounding it, but we also have a brand (Shein) with 24-25 million consumers in France.”
SGM and Shein seemed to embrace the controversy.
A billboard unveiled on Saturday above the BHV store in Paris’ Marais district featured a photo of SGM President Frédéric Merlin alongside Shein’s executive chairman Donald Tang and his dog Satchi, under the tagline: “The billboard we shouldn’t have made!”
“Creating a buzz is a way of doing business today, a more modern kind of business,” said Cottendin.
Shein has been trying to win trust in France.
It hired French leaders including former interior minister Christophe Castaner as advisors, and sought to strike deals with French retailers, while Tang has travelled around the country, met critics and attended gatherings of the French elite, but failed to turn the tide of criticism.
Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/inside-sheins-fast-fashion-fight-france-2025-11-04
