Fast fashion news and archive

Shein reportedly files for Hong Kong IPO

Fast fashion giant Shein is believed to have confidentially filed for an initial public offering in Hong Kong as it looks to pressure UK regulators to approve of a London listing. This is according to sources for the Financial Times (FT), who said the China-founded, Singapore-based company had privately filed a draft prospectus with Hong Kong’s...

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Why fast-fashion is harming second-hand – and what we can do about it

June ended with yet another blow to Europe’s struggling post-consumer textiles sector: Texaid Germany filed for insolvency. This is a significant setback for the group and for the broader reuse and recycling ecosystem. Just as European policymakers begin to treat textile waste with the seriousness it deserves, the very infrastructure needed to...

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Shein fined 40 million euros in France for false discounts

The ultra fast fashion retailer Shein has been fined 40 million euros. The brand was reprimanded by France's Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) for misleading commercial practices towards consumers. The sanction follows an investigation into Infinite Style E-commerce LTD (ISEL), the company...

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France consumes more new fashion than ever amid transition to circularity

Purchases of new clothing, footwear and household linen reached a record high in France in 2024, with an average of 42 items per person, the organisation Refashion revealed at a press conference on Tuesday. In 2024, 3.5 billion new pieces were purchased, or 10 million per day, Vanessa Gutierrez, head of studies at Refashion, the body tasked by...

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French Senate to vote on regulating fast fashion

The French Senate is due to vote Tuesday on a bill to regulate the fast fashion industry, by sanctioning companies and banning advertisements. The bill is targeted at Chinese-founded e-commerce giant Shein, which has a reputation for selling lower quality clothes at a very low price. Easy to order and replace, fast fashion items are exported to...

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Podcast: Is fast fashion ruining thrifting?

The desire for secondhand shopping is widespread, yet finding high-quality thrift items is increasingly challenging due to fast fashion dominating selections. This raises questions: Is this deterring people from choosing preloved goods? Can we address the scarcity of quality donations and also create a more affordable thrifting alternative? This...

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25 consumer organisations file complaint against Shein over misleading practices

Twenty-five European consumer organisations have lodged a joint complaint against Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein, accusing the company of misleading consumers and promoting overconsumption through manipulative design elements on its website and mobile app. The complaint, addressed to European regulators, alleges that Shein employs so-called ‘...

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French senate passes advertising ban for fast fashion

Regarding the ‘anti-fast fashion’ bill, debated on June 2, 2025, the Sénat enacted a general ban on advertising, which French senators in committee had opposed. With the government's support and thanks to lobbying by fashion federations, the Sénat reinstated the article that provided for a general ban on advertising ultra-fast fashion in...

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French Senate addresses the challenge of curbing the rise of ‘fast fashion’

Paris - After considerable time in Parliament, a bill to curb ‘fast fashion’ was reviewed in the French Senate. The Senate aimed to legislate against this ‘short-lived’ or ‘disposable’ fashion shipped at discounted prices from China, with giants Shein and Temu in its sights. Inexpensive, of poor quality, easy to order, often highly polluting and...

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Is Shein’s carbon neutrality pledge a drop in the ocean?

Shein, the global ultra-fast fashion behemoth known for releasing thousands of new styles weekly at rock-bottom prices, announced this week that its climate targets have been officially validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). The retailer has pledged to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, with interim targets that...

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EU approves Eco-Score methodology to assess clothing's environmental impact

On 14 May 2025, the European Commission officially approved the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) methodology for the textile and footwear industries. Commonly referred to as the “Eco-score,” this initiative aims to measure the environmental impact of clothing and footwear across their entire life cycle. The development marks a major...

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Shein versus Vestiaire Collective: the ideological (and economic) battle over fast fashion

France - Two irreconcilable visions of have fashion clashed. On one side, Shein, a Chinese ultra-fast fashion giant, advocated for fashion “accessible to all”. On the other, Vestiaire Collective, a French pioneer of high-end second-hand fashion, denounced a toxic promise based on social exploitation, textile waste and the endangerment of an...