France moves to suspend Shein over sex dolls
Casting a shadow over the opening of Shein’s first store at the BHV department store in Paris, French authorities have initiated proceedings to suspend online fast fashion retailer Shein until it complies with French law, the finance ministry said.
The discovery of child-like sex dolls on Shein’s website on Saturday increased the reactions.
Shein said he was sanctioning sellers and imposing a complete ban on sex dolls.
“On the instructions of the Prime Minister, the government is initiating the necessary actions to suspend Shein so that he can show the authorities that all content of the platform finally complies with our laws and regulations,” the finance ministry said. he said. expression.
A Shein spokesman told Reuters that the company wanted to hold urgent consultations with authorities about the suspension.
Shein said in a statement that it had temporarily suspended its market in France; The spokesman said this move was already planned before the finance ministry’s announcement.
It was not immediately clear whether the planned suspension would affect the Paris store, which opened at 1pm on Wednesday.
Protesters carrying “Shame on Shein” banners gathered outside BHV on Wednesday as the online fast fashion retailer opened its first store amid fierce criticism of its low-cost business model.
After queuing for hours, dozens of customers filed into the 19th-century BHV store in the city’s Marais shopping district, prompting riot police to guard the store.
Shein’s store, which occupies 1,000 square meters on the sixth floor of BHV, has caused an uproar with politicians, including Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, as well as retailers who say Shein’s business model has an unfair advantage and is eroding French high streets.
The first customers to enter the store browsed the racks of Shein clothing, including jeans for €27.99 ($A51) and a black faux leather jacket for €42.49, while more waited downstairs to be allowed in.
Shein, which ships clothes directly from factories in China to consumers in 150 countries around the world, has been approached by the Société des Grands Magasins (SGM) to set up a franchise, which hopes the launch will attract a younger customer to the struggling BHV and benefit it through its e-commerce expertise.
SGM President Frederic Merlin told BFM TV: “Every day we are told that brick-and-mortar stores are dying. Every day we are told that thousands of jobs are at risk, that the French textile industry is dying, and that it is not the same critics who are offering us solutions.”
“I believe that without innovation the future does not look very bright.”
France has reacted particularly harshly against Shein and may ban him from advertising in the country under a planned law to curb “ultra-fast” fashion, specifically targeting platforms that add more than 1,000 new products a day.
“We have been fighting this fight against Shein for two years, and to see this brand established in a historic building symbolizing the French textile industry is an unacceptable provocation,” said Anne-Cécile Violland, the MP who spearheaded the fast fashion legislation.
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