France: Despite controversies, Shein fills up with customers in his pop-up shop

People are waiting for the opening of the Shein pop-up store on May 4, 2023, in Paris. AFP - CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT

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In Paris, online ready-to-wear brand Shein has opened a pop-up store in Paris. Despite the social and ecological controversies, many customers have responded to the lower prices, despite the case of conscience.

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This is a first in the capital. After Toulouse, Montpellier and Lyon in March, for four days, the Chinese "fast fashion" brand Shein opened a store in the Marais district of Paris. And many customers got up early for a Sunday morning to come and see what the brand offers. "We thought there would be fewer people for a Sunday in the rain, it's missed! I hope it's worth it," says a young woman in line.

And when asked what attracts them to Shein, everyone replies in chorus: "The prices!" A pair of jeans that costs 40 euros at Zara, we will pay 15 or 20 euros here. There is a wide choice, even if we know that the working conditions are not always good, but whether at home or at someone else's, is it the same thing? ", retorts a Parisian woman in the line. "I wanted to see why so many young people order on Shein. Fast fashion is not necessarily my way of seeing consumption. But I wanted to make up my own mind," said another. The firm is "clearly not green. It's not good, but it's pretty much the same everywhere and we go a little bit over it. Whether at Zara, more well-known brands. And it's true that even if you buy where it's not good, you might as well buy where it's cheaper," says one woman.

>> Read also: Textile industry: spring-waste collection

In addition to attracting crowds, Shein is the world's leading online clothing retailer. In 2022, the online platform was the first place to buy clothing for 15-24 year olds in France. In 2021, its sales jumped 60%, propelling its turnover to $ 16 billion, according to Bloomberg, thus following the Swedish H&M.

 « Clothes under 10 euros, it raises a question "

In the queue, cases of conscience are multiplying because these attractive prices are not compatible with decent working conditions, according to several NGOs. The group is regularly accused, like other big names in textiles, of profiting from the exploitation of members of the Uighur Muslim minority in cotton fields and workshops in the Xinjiang region of western China. Accusations that the firm denies. On May 2, a group of US lawmakers asked the Wall Street watchdog to demand an independent investigation into the accusations of forced labor by Uighurs against Shein if the firm were to be listed in New York.

 « 

Clothes under 10 euros, it raises a question. There are NGOs that have indeed shown that the hours are completely disrespectful of human rights, that there is very little leave, that it is often women who work in deplorable conditions and often far from their families. So they cannot have contact possibly with their families, their children. These conditions are unacceptable," said Gildas Minvielle, a professor at the French Fashion Institute and director of the Economic Observatory of the French Fashion Institute.

"A very bad impact on all consumers »

It is also singled out for having become a symbol of "ultra fast fashion", or "the rapid renewal of collections at very low prices". The brand is criticized by some associations for its environmental footprint. Already the textile industry is the 5th largest emitter of greenhouse gases, the "fast fashion" industries are leading to overconsumption and overproduction. They also provide garments produced quickly and of lower quality, resulting in faster replacement.

>> Read also: The textile industry pollutes rivers in East Africa

And according to Greenpeace Germany, 15% of the clothes sold by Shein contain toxic pollutants. Of 42 products purchased by the NGO at Shein's sites in Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland, and another five items at a pop-up Shein store in Munich, a quarter of these products contained hazardous chemicals at levels above the regulatory limits set by the European Union. It is mainly shoes that are subject to these exceedances, notes the study of the NGO.

But despite the accusations, the firm capitalizes thanks to its low prices in a difficult economic context. "There are many consumers who need low prices at a time when purchasing power is weakened," says the professor.

In the long term, a policy like that of the Chinese firm will have many other harmful consequences for the French consumer, who is used to paying less money for this kind of clothing. "An average price like Shein's has a very bad impact on all consumers," warns Mr. Minvielle. "We must not blur the reference that consumers can have on the price, because we know that the made in France where products respectful of the environment or the social conditions of production will necessarily be more expensive. And in the future, if we want to go towards less but better, clothes will be more expensive, "he concludes.

In an interview with AFP, Peter Pernot-Day, head of strategy and public affairs, defends Shein's business model. "We are on-demand manufacturers," he retorts. According to him, the firm analyzes "finely" the demand, which makes it possible to reduce in a "drastically" the unsold and therefore the production of waste. Regarding T-shirts at 4.99 euros, a price not compatible with decent working conditions for NGOs, it is due to the "efficiency" of the model, according to Mr. Pernot-Day: "Our costs are low because the price of a garment is burdened by the cost of the risk of unsold that must be integrated" and stock management, on which Shein trims, replied the manager. "Our goal is to make the beauty of fashion accessible to everyone," he says.

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