Shein opened its first brick-and-mortar store in the world in Paris today amid a heavy police presence, as controversy swirled over the Asian e-commerce giant’s fast fashion business model and sale of childlike sex dolls online.
Riot police officers were deployed in the centre of the French capital ahead of the opening of Shein’s first permanent physical store on the sixth floor of the BHV department store, an iconic building that has stood across from Paris City Hall since 1856.
The first clients entered the store under the watchful eye of riot police after queuing for hours outside, AFP reporters saw.
In the line outside before the opening, some said they arrived out of curiosity, while others pointed to the brand’s affordability.
“Times have changed, generations have changed,” Mohamed Joullanar, a 30-year-old who already buys from Shein online, told AFP.
“I’d never thought of going to BHV before,” the Moroccan masters student told AFP. “I always heard it was expensive, luxury products. But now, thanks to Shein, I’m here.”
Nearby children’s rights activists staged a protest. “Protect children, not Shein,” one of the signs read.
Protesters distributed red flyers, denouncing “suspected forced labour” and “pollution”, and urging passersby to sign a petition against Shein’s presence inside the Paris store.
Across the street, a poster critical of the brand hung at the top of City Hall, under the window of Greens politician and Paris mayoral candidate David Belliard.
“Shein no thanks,” it read.
Shein, which was founded in China, has faced criticism over working conditions at its factories and the environmental impact of its ultra-fast fashion business model, and its arrival in France has been opposed by politicians, unions, and top fashion brands.
Just days before the planned opening, a new controversy erupted over the sale of childlike sex dolls on Shein’s platform. The discovery triggered a new political outcry and the opening of a judicial investigation.
‘Malfunction’
Shein, which was founded in China in 2012 but is now based in Singapore, has pledged to “fully cooperate” with French judicial authorities and announced it was imposing a ban on all sex dolls.
Shein’s spokesman in France, Quentin Ruffat, has chalked up the sale of the dolls to “a malfunction in our processes and governance”.
Frederic Merlin, the 34-year-old director of the SGM company that operates BHV, yesterday said he considered pulling the plug on the partnership with Shein after the latest uproar but then changed his mind.
He said he was confident about the Shein products that will be sold at his department store, and denounced a “general hypocrisy” surrounding Shein.
“Shein has 25 million customers in France,” Merlin told BFMTV/RMC today.
Merlin hopes that the Asian giant will help increase footfall at his department store.
Shein’s meteoric rise has been a bane for traditional retail fashion companies.
Critics fear that Shein will further hurt stores in France, some of which have had to lay off staff or close. Shein is also scheduled to open five shops in other French cities, including Dijon, Grenoble and Reims.
France investigates Shein, some rivals over underage access to porn content
Online retail platforms Shein,Temu, AliExpress and Wish are being investigated in France for alleged rule breaches that include minors being able to access pornographic content via their market places, the Paris prosecutor has said.
French Finance Minister Roland Lescure has threatened a countrywide ban of the brand after a consumer watchdog spotted child-like sex dolls sold on its marketplace.
Shein spokesperson for France Quentin Ruffat told RMC radio that the company would do everything in its power to collaborate with the investigation, including sharing the names of vendors and buyers of the dolls, which it has now banned.
Ruffat later told BFM TV that the dolls had been on sale since October 16.
“We are in the process of sacking all the offending vendors from the platform,” he said.
AliExpress told Reuters that similar listings had bee nremoved from its site and that sellers who violate the platform’s policies will be penalised.
A Temu spokesperson said that accusations against the company were connected to minors accessing certain products on its platform.
Temu was not being investigated over child pornography allegations, the spokesperson said, adding that the company does not allow the sale of child-like sex dolls, nor does it have any on its platform.
Wish did not respond to a request for comment.
The Paris prosecutor’s office said it received a complaint from the consumer watchdog known as DGCCRF and referred the case to the National Office for Minors to investigate.
The companies are being investigated on suspicion of disseminating violent, pornographic or degrading messages accessible to minors, which can lead to up to three years in prison and a fine of €75,000 for individuals involved, the office said.
Shein and AliExpress are also being investigated over the alleged dissemination of images or representations of minors of a pornographic nature, which can lead to five years in prison and a fine of €75,000, the prosecutor’s office said.
Shein pulled the dolls from its website on Sunday, and on Monday imposed a total ban on sex dolls and suspended the “adult products” category on its platform.
