The case has been referred to prosecutors, and the government has warned that the global e-commerce platform could be barred from the French market if such content reappears.<\/p>\n
In response, Shein said it has banned all sex-doll products, and temporarily removed its adult products category for review. The company has also launched an investigation to determine how the listings bypassed its screening measures.<\/p>\n
Several dozen protesters camped outside the BHV department store on Wednesday morning, while some shoppers queued ahead of the opening. An online petition opposing the Paris opening has surpassed 120,000 signatures, and child-protection and environmental groups have condemned Shein.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a black day for our industry,\u201d Thibaut Ledunois, director of entrepreneurship and innovation at the French federation of women\u2019s ready-to-wear, told The Associated Press. \u201cShein is developing a beautiful showcase in our country, justifying all the bad, and sad and horrible business that they develop all around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n The Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 des Grands Magasins (SGM), which owns the BHV Marais department store in downtown Paris, called the sale of the sex dolls unacceptable, but praised Shein for its swift response to defuse the controversy.<\/p>\n The BHV has been going through financial struggles in recent years and the SGM believes the arrival of Shein will help revive business \u2014 even as some brands have chosen to leave the store in protest.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are proud to have a partner who has spoken out firmly,\u201d said Karl-St\u00e9phane Cottendin, the chief operating officer of SGM. \u201cWe are very happy to be opening the boutique.\u201d<\/p>\n Founded in China in 2012 and now based in Singapore, Shein has risen rapidly to become a global fast-fashion giant. Selling mostly Chinese-made clothes and products at bargain prices, the retailer has drawn criticism over allegations that its supply chains may be tainted by forced labor, including from China\u2019s far-west Xinjiang province, where rights groups say serious human rights abuses were committed by Beijing against members of the ethnic Uyghur group and other Muslim minorities.<\/p>\n Cottendin dismissed those concerns and praised Shein for doing a \u201ctremendous job\u201d to improve its practices.<\/p>\n \u201cToday, it\u2019s a brand that produces under much more legitimate conditions,\u201d he said. \u201cWe ensured that the entire production chain, from manufacturing to delivery, complies strictly with French and European regulations and standards.\u201d<\/p>\n Fast fashion, characterized by a constant turnover of collections and very low prices, has flooded European markets with low-quality items, driving environmental, social, and economic costs. The United Nations has warned that the textile industry alone is responsible for nearly 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions and contributes to water depletion.<\/p>\n France is now moving to curb the growing influence of companies based in Southeast Asian countries such as Shein, Temu, or AliExpress. <\/p>\n A draft law targets fast fashion with measures such as consumer awareness campaigns, advertising bans, taxes on small imported parcels, and stricter waste management rules. The Senate adopted the proposal earlier this year, and the government has notified the European Commission ahead of a joint committee meeting to finalize the text.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Fast-fashion giant Shein is facing a fresh wave of controversy as it opens its first permanent store in Paris on Wednesday inside one of the city\u2019s most iconic department stores. The launch of Shein, which has long drawn criticism over its poor green credentials and labor practices, in the heart of France\u2019s fashion capital has <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4194,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4193","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marketsfortress.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marketsfortress.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marketsfortress.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marketsfortress.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/marketsfortress.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4193\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marketsfortress.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marketsfortress.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marketsfortress.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marketsfortress.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Image:](\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2025-11\/251105-shein2-rs-e87d76.jpg\")