🗣️ Special Edition | Shein, Sex Dolls, and Fast Fashion: The Great French Retail War of 2025 Begins

The Great French Retail War of 2025 moved from the virtual battlefield of the internet and exploded onto the streets of Paris this week.

The spark that lit this fuse was the provocative decision of controversial French retailer BHV to create a "world exclusive partnership" with Chinese low-cost retailer Shein dedicating a large in-house store to the brand in its flagship Marais building. And this despite months of political wrangling in France to ban, or at least limit, the impact of so-called "ultra-fast fashion" online platforms. Not only had those efforts been relatively ineffective to date, but now the chief villain had effectively decided to poke its finger in the eye of its Inspector Javert by setting up shop in his backyard.

If that wasn't enough, outside the store hung an enormous billboard showing Frédéric Merlin, BHV's owner, standing alongside Shein’s founder under the slogan: “L’affiche qu’on n’aurait pas dû faire.” (“The poster we shouldn’t have made.”)

All of this would have been incendiary enough. But then there were the "childlike" sex dolls.

The discovery of listings for what French officials labeled “pedopornographic” dolls and various weapons on Shein’s marketplace created a new opening for a fresh regulatory attack on the company. And only fuelled further public outrage.

And so the stage was set.

There is no street theater like French protest theater. Activists lined the outside of BHV to shout their anger and shame shoppers. Riot police monitored the scene while Paris officials unfurled a banner across City Hall reading: “Shein, non merci.”

Even so, a willing band of consumers staged their own version of counter-protest by ignoring all of this sound and fury. Shoppers still queued for hours on Wednesday to enter Shein’s freshly inaugurated 1,000 m² retail space and search for deals from their beloved discounter, a reminder of the allure Shein and similar brands hold for many.

Paris once again finds itself at ground zero for an emotional and existential debate over the way globalization, the internet, and e-commerce are re-shaping the way the world lives, shops, and works.

La Résistance Tech

Over the past several decades, as the internet and digital technologies have disrupted countless markets and industries, the French have often stood apart for their willingness to question and protest (at times violently) these sweeping changes. At times, it can feel like a paradox, because as consumers, the French are often among the highest adopters of such new technologies.

And yet, from the rise of Uber to the proliferation of Airbnb, French citizens and institutions have questioned how digital platforms reshape labor, urban life, and social equity.

When Uber first entered the French market, traditional taxi drivers mobilized en masse, blocking roads and clashing with police to protest what they viewed as unfair competition from lightly regulated gig workers. Similarly, as Airbnb expanded across Paris and other cities, public backlash grew over housing shortages and rent inflation, prompting the government to impose strict limits on short-term rentals.

These reactions reflect France’s broader skepticism toward what many perceive as the unchecked liberalization and commodification embedded in digital capitalism. French policymakers have been among Europe’s most proactive in regulating tech giants, pressing for data privacy, labor protections, and fair taxation long before many of their peers.

Fast fashion is the latest digital trend caught in France's crosshairs.

Fast fashion refers to the rapid production of inexpensive, trend-driven clothing, while ultra-fast fashion accelerates this model through data-driven platforms that release thousands of new items daily. Both are criticized for fueling over-consumption, exploiting labor, and causing severe environmental harm through waste, pollution, and unsustainable production cycles.

China's Shein and Temu are often singled out because they have become by far the most popular global ultra-fast fashion brands.

Last summer, the French Senate and National Assembly adopted bills to regulate the ultra-fast fashion industry, but they have not yet taken effect. Supporters of the measures were already worried that they were being watered down because key definitions and enforcement mechanisms had been weakened. The bill includes:

• A future ban on advertising for ultra-fast fashion actors (including influencer marketing).
• A definition of ultra-fast fashion – high turnover, short usage lifespan, weak repair potential to clearly distinguish it from low-cost “fast fashion” more broadly.
• Eco-contributions and penalties per item for worst-performing products: up to €5/item in 2025, increasing to €10 by 2030.
• Mandatory disclosure of product origins, environmental impact, and restrictions on “free delivery” offers for ultra-fast firms.
• A forthcoming small-parcel tax (2-4 €) on imports under 2 kg from outside the EU designed to tackle cross-border ultra-fast flows.

The law still needs final approval by a commission mixte paritaire (CMP) and notification to the European Commission. For now, it remains in limbo.

From Ultra Fast Fashion to Ultra Fast Crime?

The government may have had little recourse against Shein this week had it not been for the sex dolls and the weapons.

On Monday, the French government announced it was opening an investigation into Shein after learning that several third-party merchants were selling child sex dolls on the platform as well as "grade A" weapons, knuckle dusters and knives.

“On the instructions of the prime minister, the government is initiating the procedure to suspend Shein for the time necessary for the platform to demonstrate to the public authorities that all of its content is finally in compliance with our laws and regulations,” Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu's office announced.

Shein responded by suspending its adult-product category, banned the offending items, and extended its internal controls, an action the firm describes as a “malfunction in our governance.” 

No matter. The French government has continued to escalate its rhetoric.

By Thursday, it was calling on the EU to investigate, was threatening to block the Shein website in France, and announced that every online order the company had sent to France over the past day had been suspended, and that more than 200,000 packages would be inspected by customs officials.

Following the government’s suspension procedure against the Chinese e-commerce, the government announced the launch of an “exceptional operation” at Charles de Gaulle airport, inspecting 100% of Shein parcels for non-compliant or illegal goods, from counterfeit toys to unsafe cosmetics.

"200,000," said Amélie de Montchalin, France’s budget minister, in a post on X. "This is the number of packages that will be inspected in the coming hours by customs officers mobilized for a large-scale operation at Roissy–Charles de Gaulle Airport, aimed at checking 100% of the packages originating from the e-commerce platform Shein."

Worth noting: Shein has already been penalized in France, receiving a record €40 million fine earlier in 2025 for misleading discounts and unsubstantiated environmental claims. 

A Deal With The Devil?

Given this backlash, it might seem surprising at first that BHV would risk courting such controversy.

BHV (Bazar de l’Hôtel de Ville) is a historic French department store located in the heart of Paris, just across from the Hôtel de Ville.

Founded in 1856, BHV is considered part of France's heritage of retail style and innovation. It has cultivated a reputation for embracing sustainability and design innovation while maintaining its reputation as one of Paris’s most distinctive and beloved retail landmarks.

And yet, like many such retailers, it faces declining traffic and e-commerce competition.

From BHV’s vantage point, the Shein partnership represents a bold reinvention of downtown departmental retail. It sees Shein as a draw for Gen Z shoppers who otherwise might skip the Paris centre entirely.

BHV's Merlin, in recent interviews with RTL and BFM/RMC, hailed the Shein partnership as "highly innovative", a sales experiment aimed at capturing younger shoppers. “Shein has 25 million customers in France,” he said.  He went so far as to offer an audacious promotional deal: spend €100 and receive a €100 voucher to spend elsewhere in BHV.

But it's not just traditional retailers. Shein’s arrival exposes a deeper fault line in French retail: the widening gap between traditional e-commerce and algorithmic commerce.

For years, French platforms like Veepee (Vente Privée), Showroomprivé, and Bazarchic defined digital shopping through curated flash sales and brand partnerships. Shein has upended that logic entirely. Its model is continuous, data-driven, and hyper-reactive. Trends spotted on social media are designed, produced, and shipped within days. Powered by AI and predictive analytics, Shein’s platform turns global demand into near-instant supply.

These platforms are setting a new consumer standard for price, speed, and novelty that older European marketplaces struggle to match. French competitors are feeling the burn as they struggle to remain relevant when algorithms now decide what’s fashionable before buyers or regulators can catch up.

Online retailer Showroomprivé announced last week it would cut 11% of its employees, amongst other things, in the face of competition from low-cost retailers. Its CEO and co-founder David Dayan takes a pragmatic stance:

“Aware of the ultra-competitive markets in which we operate, we must rethink our organizational model to leverage our strengths for the benefit of our customers.”

The Reckoning Ahead

BHV's gamble has generated plenty of buzz. But it has also created consequences.

Within days of the announcement, long-time BHV suppliers such as Odaje and Figaret Paris pulled their goods from the store in protest, calling the Shein deal a betrayal of French brand values.  The optics are stark: a brand whose online business is under fire for prohibited content and labor practices is being given a trophy retail location opposite Paris City Hall.

The parent group of Galeries Lafayette cancelled its affiliation with BHV's parent company SGM, over the decision to host Shein in its provincial stores. Shein still plans five more stores across France.

With France’s “anti–ultra-fast fashion” law set to take effect in 2026, the clock is ticking. Regulators must decide how to define “ultra,” enforce ad bans, and tax imports.

Retailers must brace for impact. If Shein succeeds inside BHV, other city-center stores may follow. If it collapses under reputational or regulatory weight, the model will be cautionary.

Shein’s speed has become France’s stress test. What comes next will reveal once again how France balances innovation’s pace with its own principles.