Chinese online retailers like Temu and Shein are increasingly popular in Europe, impacting local economies. France is planning a new anti-fast-fashion law.
00:03Every second, the equivalent of one garbage truck full of clothing is incinerated or sent to landfill.
00:12Fast fashion is coming under growing criticism, and not just on the environmental front.
00:20Over the last two years, the likes of Shein and Temu have destroyed almost 13,000 jobs in France.
00:30We want to see those brands banned here, so that French and other European suppliers can become more creative, more innovative, and more sustainable.
00:43France is planning to introduce an anti-fast fashion law, which in addition to establishing a legal definition of the business model,
00:50will also introduce fines and potentially even an outright ban on advertising for fast fashion.
00:57But first, there's that tricky issue, for textile traders here in Germany too, of exactly what qualifies as fast fashion.
01:06That's the biggest problem, the lack of a definition.
01:12In the fashion sector at least, we don't even have a definition of sustainable.
01:16For me, fast production is not synonymous with disposable fashion.
01:25With Shein, we're seeing up to 10,000 new products per day, which isn't possible without stealing designs.
01:34Second, it means producing with polyester in big factories.
01:38And third, exploiting people.
01:40The French trade association estimates that customers in the country bought 300 million items of clothing via Chinese platforms last year.
01:59Products that are currently flooding the whole of Europe with goods.
02:02There are no exact figures, but there are indications.
02:06The number of parcels below the EU customs duty threshold, for example, has grown several-fold,
02:13with 12 million arriving from China alone every day.
02:17Nobody knows how many contain clothes, as only the customers get to look inside.
02:22Some of the unpacking videos posted by them are then used by Shein, with its 36 million followers,
02:28a nice boost for budding influencers and their reach, and for the company, free advertising.
02:34But resistance is growing across the EU.
02:36We have submitted a complaint together with 25 consumer organizations against fast fashion companies
02:44Shein for their use of deceptive design techniques, also called dark patterns.
02:50So we believe that this type of design, it manipulates consumers, it pushes to overconsumption and impulse buying,
02:59meaning that it pushes consumers to buy more than originally intended.
03:06And on the environmental front, the EU is definitely buying too much clothing,
03:1119 kilos a year per capita, producing masses of CO2 and consuming too much water.
03:17It's hoped the EU's eco-design regulation from 2024 will change things.
03:24It requires all products sold in Europe to be durable, repairable and recyclable.
03:29And their production should use a minimum of resources and produce as little CO2 as possible.
03:34The only problem is that the specific requirements for textiles are only just being drawn up,
03:39and that can take time.
03:41We're currently facing a massive challenge in the shape of conflicting objectives.
03:50And the difficulties posed by these regulations are a big political issue too.
03:54One simple example.
03:57Some say that sustainable products are those that last the longest.
04:01But that would mean all clothing made of polyester, because it's so durable.
04:06As for the initiative shown by France, so far, the draft version of the anti-fast fashion law
04:14has enjoyed plenty of support.
04:16But it won't be adopted until the fall at the earliest,
04:20and it's still not clear whether its various requirements are compatible with EU law.
04:25Sheehan has already responded with a counter-campaign.
04:28The message?
04:34That fashion is a right for everyone, not just a privilege for the rich.
04:38Sheehan didn't answer our inquiry, as is typical for the company.
04:42Instead, it pays well-known influencers to promote its arguments,
04:47a battle over minds on social media,
04:50in which both sides are eager to impress.
04:52This AI-generated image promptly went viral among fast fashion opponents.
