More than half of all parcels sent to France in 2024 were from two brands: Shein and Temu. The French government is preparing to regulate imported fast fashion against the 800 million packages entering France each year.
Find out more about France’s decisive move to fight ultra-fast fashion
What happened?
On June 10, the French Senate, one of two houses of France’s parliament, passed a new bill to regulate ultra-fast fashion.
There were 337 votes in favour and one against the bill.
Its goal? To reduce the environmental damage from fast fashion.
What’s in the bill?
Advertising bans
- Ads from fast fashion brands will be banned
- This even extends to influencers. “Au revoir”, Shein haul videos
Every fast fashion company must have an “eco-score”
- Brands will be rated on emissions, resource use, recyclability, and more
- Those with the lowest scores will be taxed
- €5 per product, doubling to €10 in 2030, capped at 50% of the original price
It doesn’t stop there
- Retailers must inform customers about repair, recycling, reuse, and the environmental impact of the product
- Free returns will be banned
- Packages imported from outside the EU will be taxed
- No more tax breaks for ‘donating’ excess unsold stock, which are already banned from being destroyed
Fast or ultra-fast?
The bill differentiates between fast and ultra-fast fashion.
Fast fashion refers to low-quality, cheap clothing produced quickly, with new stock arriving weekly or monthly. It can be sold online, but often has a physical retail presence.
Ultra-fast fashion takes this to a new level. Shein is an example of an ultra-fast fashion brand. On average, it lists 7,200 new items daily, driven by algorithms and micro-trends. These online platforms don’t have a physical retail presence in France, making clothes faster, cheaper, and even more disposable than fast fashion.
Weakened ambitions
Originally, the bill targeted all fast fashion. But in the version passed by the Senate, the bill is more lenient towards traditional fast fashion brands.
This provides a loophole for fast fashion brands originating from Europe, even if they rely on the same exploitative, low-wage labour in other countries.
“The economic crisis in the clothing industry in France started way before Shein. It started when fast fashion – Zara, H&M, Primark – arrived. Now they are saying if they’re targeted, it will be a catastrophe [for jobs]. But they’re doing great economically, and they’re part of the problem.”
– Pierre Condamine, Anti Fast Fashion Coalition spokesperson
Triple threat
Ultra-fast fashion is being targeted as it’s considered a triple threat to France:
- It promotes overconsumption
- It causes ecological damage
- It saturates the market, threatening French clothing brands
Why legislation matters
Ultra-fast fashion will not self-regulate. It sacrifices people and the planet for profit.
Consumer behaviour won’t change fast enough without it, especially with the barrage of ads, greenwashing, and cheap prices.
With issues like fast fashion, legislation is essential for change.
What’s next?
In September, a committee will finalise the bill’s wording before it’s adopted as law.
The European Commission must be notified of the legislative changes for approval at the EU level. Shein has European headquarters in Ireland, presenting a potential legal loophole.
Sources
- BBC
- Business of Fashion
- Euronews
- Fabric of Change
- France24
- French Assemblée Nationale
- The Mirror
- RFI
- Women’s Wear Daily
Credit
- Feature image is of Christian Boltanski’s installation ‘Personnes’ at the Grand Palais in Paris, by Eva Albarran
- Read more of our Explainers here
