France may penalize ultra-fast fashion brands for their environmental impact for the first time. In a new measure, French ruling-majority MPs propose penalizing fast-fashion businesses like Shein with up to 50% of their clothing’ selling price to balance their environmental effect.
The MPs said ultra-fast fashion firms offer thousands of new things per day, inciting excessive spending and pollution; conventional clothes brands change their collections four times a year.
“This evolution of the apparel sector towards ephemeral fashion, combining increased volumes and low prices, is influencing consumer buying habits by creating buying impulses and a constant need for renewal, which is not without environmental, social and economic consequences,” said the bill.
The bill stated that Chinese ready-to-wear manufacturer Shein introduces more than 7,200 new clothing models a day and offers over 470,000 goods.
The MPs suggest penalties of up to 10 euros ($10.86) each item sold or 50% of the selling price by 2030 to counteract ultra-fast fashion’s environmental impact.
Shein told AFP it follows “best international practices in terms of sustainable development and social commitment”.
The bill will be presented to parliament in the second half of March after committee deliberation.
On Monday, French Environment Minister Christophe Bechu announced that his ministry will take numerous steps to lessen fashion’s environmental impact after meeting with industry, environmentalists, and scholars.
He said France will outlaw ultra-quick fashion advertising and introduce financial incentives to make rapid fashion more expensive and sustainable fashion cheaper.
Fast fashion e-commerce merchants like Shein and Temu have impacted retail. Shein accepts small initial orders from a network of mostly Chinese suppliers and scales up based on demand, defying typical manufacturing tendencies.
Shein’s ultra-flexible supply chain has allowed it to construct a different business model than Zara and H&M, which pioneered shorter manufacturing timeframes but still rely on buyers’ tastes.
