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Every December, many shoppers plan to buy fewer things and choose more sustainable options. Yet as the months go by, expenses increase rapidly outfit It becomes difficult to resist. Christmas has become a moment when good intentions collide with the emotional pull of discounts and seasonal fashion.
This paradox became unusually visible when fashion giant Shein opened its first permanent store inside BHV department store In Paris in November. Crowds gathered as shoppers tried to get inside, while protesters stood outside holding signs and shouting “shame on you” over concerns about its ESG (environmental, social and governance) track record.
Sheen has a faster turnaround time and less prices Taking it beyond fast fashion to “ultra-fast fashion” to a whole new level.
Some other brands with retail space inside department stores announced they planned to withdraw in protest of Shein’s appearance. And the opening of new Shein stores across France has been delayed.
There was even more controversy. The French government sought controls on parts of Shein’s online platform, including age verification, amid an investigation into banned weapons and child-like sex dolls on his site. company Under further investigation.
When made aware of the products in November, a spokesperson for Shein said the company was taking the issue “extremely seriously”. It disabled the portion of its site where third-party sellers list their products.
At the same time, shoppers entering the Paris store found higher prices than online, adding another layer to the debate over Shein’s transparency and the broader environmental and labor concerns associated with fast fashion.
What makes Christmas such a powerful moment for fast fashion is not only the seasonal marketing, but also the psychological dynamics that help consumers assuage their environmental guilt. Fast fashion already accounts for a significant share of online clothing sales in France, and despite growing public criticism, Shein has become one of the largest retailers by volume.
In the UK, fast fashion sales have reached billions of pounds with strong annual growth, showing that affordability ultimately outweighs ethical concerns.
Research on consumer behavior shows that people often use moral excuses to justify questionable purchases, telling themselves that everyone else is doing the same or that the harm is remote and indirect. This reduces the moral stress of making purchases to a great extent.
In addition to reduced guilt, fast fashion benefits from what marketing researchers describe as temporary discounting. This happens when consumers focus on short-term pleasure and price rather than long-term environmental damage.
Shein’s rapid production model turns digital trends into products in a matter of days, providing instant gratification. Future losses such as waste or emissions are psychologically distanced at the time of purchase. These mechanisms help explain why fast fashion is thriving despite growing climate concerns.
In many ways, the Christmas rush highlights the broader conflict between consumers’ ethical intentions and the realities of global retail. This contradiction is not merely personal. It also shapes how governments and the public react to Sheen’s growing presence.
The protests outside the Paris store reflect tensions across regulatory and social institutions, where concerns about labor conditions and environmental impact collide with the influence of a company that has become the center of contemporary fashion.
Why do the Paris protests matter beyond ESG?
It may be tempting to see the demonstrations in Paris as simply another response to environmental issues. Yet concerns about Sheen were part of the public debate long before the store opened. Fast fashion has depended for decades on outsourcing to cheap manufacturing centers with limited worker protections.
Even after the Rana Plaza disaster in 2013, when 1,134 people (mainly garment workers) were killed in Bangladesh when their factory building collapsed, many European fast fashion companies faced criticism regarding their environmental violations in global supply chains.
About the authors
Yang Ding is a lecturer in marketing and Xuchang Chen is a lecturer in international business and strategy at Henley Business School at the University of Reading. This article is republished from Conversation Under Creative Commons license. read the original article,
What is different in the current controversy are not the ethical problems, but the challenge posed by Sheen to the traditional balance of power in global fashion. For much of the last century, European companies dominated the industry and shaped international tastes.
Now Shein’s algorithm-driven and hyperresponsive model is disrupting that dominance. This pace promotes waste and environmental damage, even as its low prices continue to attract millions of buyers.
In this sense, for Shein, Paris has become much more than a retail location. Success in one of the world’s fashion capitals would mark a significant moment in Shein’s global expansion and signal that it is no longer operating on the margins.
It will also test whether this new type of fashion giant can prove itself beyond its online audience in the eyes of regulators, partner brands and in-store shoppers.
The pushback Shein faced in Paris points to broader concerns about who now has influence in the fashion industry. A Chinese fast fashion giant has bypassed traditional European gatekeepers and challenged the established hierarchy shaping the future of the industry.
In response to a 2024 report criticizing working conditions at some of the factories it uses, Sheen said in a statement that it is “actively working to improve the practices of our suppliers, including ensuring that work hours are voluntary and workers are fairly compensated for their work”. And in relation to criticisms regarding its environmental impact, Sheen has stated that the use of AI has now cut the amount of waste generated in its production processes.