Fast fashion companies are in Bercy’s sights. Questioned by many Internet users on social networks, Bruno Le Maire announced in a video posted on Instagram that he had “seized” in autumn 2022 “the General Directorate for Competition, Consumption and Fraud Prevention (DGCCRF) to ask it to investigate”. the excesses of fast fashion, and in particular of the firm Shein”.
The Minister of Economy justifies this decision for “two reasons”. In the first place, a security reason “because we do not have all the necessary information on how ‘Shein products’ are made and on the different agents that can be used to make the fabrics.” Then, “a reason for loyalty to the prices that are advertised and that do not always correspond to the reality of the commercial practice of this company.” The results of this survey will be published in the fall.
“Environmental Concerns”
The Finance Minister took more broad aim at “fast fashion spin-offs” that raise “environmental concerns”.
He also denounced the “social problems” that this industry generates “because we don’t know in what social conditions these clothes are made.”
Bruno Le Maire finally invited the MEP Raphaël Glucksmann, who had already questioned the Bercy tenant on this issue, to “continue the exchanges (…) so that we can see with the MEPs what are the answers that can be given on a European scale to these excesses of fast fashion that (…) pose unacceptable environmental problems”. But the fight against excesses will also involve consumer commitment:
In recent years, the Chinese fast fashion giant Shein has been repeatedly pointed out by associations and NGOs denouncing the working conditions within the company, the environmental impact of its activity, as well as the substances used in the manufacture of its articles.
Source: BFM TV
