Behind the seams: Shein's PR shift amid EU scrutiny and French legislative pressure
Pressure mounts for Shein. Last week, the European Commission announced that it was considering imposing a handling fee of €2 per parcel worth less than €150. As most of these products come from China, Europe intends to better control the entry into the common market of products marketed by platforms such as Shein and Temu.
On May 26, the European Commission issued a warning to the e-tailer over consumer protection concerns. Meanwhile, France will begin examining a proposed law next week—unanimously adopted by the National Assembly in 2024—that aims to reduce the textile industry's environmental impact. The legislation specifically targets ultra-fast fashion players.
So much so that Shein spokesman Quentin Ruffat was quick to denounce it as an attack on the purchasing power of French consumers, speaking to journalist Jean-Jacques Bourdin on Sud Radio. For him, the various measures would increase the price of Shein products by €12 by 2030. His comments are part of a carefully crafted communications strategy that has been gaining momentum over the past two years. Here's how it works.
Shein is not a simple e-commerce site. The company was founded in 2008 in the Chinese city of Nanjing as a specialist exporter of various types of products. Its founder, Xu Yangtian (or Chris Xu), specialized in textiles in 2011 when he created the wedding dress website SheInside. His approach was already based on the model of ultra-rapid response to trends via data analysis. He had his products produced in short runs in small workshops in the Guangzhou region of southern China—a model that was duplicated with the Shein women's ready-to-wear version from 2015 and its development in Western markets in the U.S. and Europe. The brand does not sell in China.
In its early years, the site passed under the fashion world's radar but has grown ultra-fast, supported by a powerful marketing strategy on social networks, particularly TikTok.
This success has enabled Shein to become one of the major players in fashion, with sales jumping 19% in 2024 to reach $38 billion (€33.3 billion), according to data collected by the Financial Times, although Shein remains very discreet about its results.
Founded in China but now based in Singapore with a parent company in the Cayman Islands, Shein is today more powerful than H&M, with its €20 billion in sales. And it clearly has Inditex, with its €38.6 billion in sales, in its sights. According to the Financial Times, which had access to the investor presentation file for its IPO, Shein was even forecasting sales of $45 billion (€39.5 billion) in 2024, with a net income of $4.8 billion. In fact, its net income would have fallen from nearly $2 billion in 2023 to $1 billion in 2024.
This is yet another thorn in the side of Shein's management team, which in recent years has seen a number of obstacles thrown in its path—both in terms of criticism and regulatory frameworks—particularly since the beginning of 2025, with the U.S. market (a key market for the company) being closed off by the end of the 'de minimis' rule and, above all, with longer lead times to enter the market for international packages.
7,000 new products up for sale each day, all shipped directly by parcel
In recent years, the company has faced mounting criticism from labor rights organizations and European fashion industry representatives. Allegations range from the poor quality and potential safety risks of imported garments, to harsh working conditions in subcontracted workshops, a lack of transparency across operations, and the environmental toll of mass production and air transport. Critics also point to the negative impact of Shein's rapid expansion on local fashion ecosystems, as well as the promotion of a hyper-consumerist culture.
To defend its business model and profit margins, the group has spared no expense in rolling out aggressive communication and influence campaigns.
Just five years ago, it was nearly impossible to access any details about Shein's origins, founders, or shareholders. Today, however, the company is actively engaging with both the press and government officials. 'Every company grows at its own pace,' said Leonard Lin, Shein's head of public affairs, in an interview with FashionNetwork.com. 'We've come to realize that it's time to explain our model, highlight what sets us apart from the rest of the industry, and demonstrate the value we offer.'
Gone are the days of lightning growth in the shadows; Shein is now under scrutiny. In the face of criticism, the brand defends the fact that it applies the laws of the various countries in which it operates and complies if a problem arises. Nevertheless, the group remains active in making its vision heard with regard to new European or French regulations.
A four-pronged strategy
After years of criticism, the ultra-fast fashion giant has structured a strategy to de-demonize itself. First step: whether in Europe or the United States, Shein has invested heavily to surround itself with specialized firms and leading political figures. Spending is estimated at several million euros a year, particularly since 2022 and the first actions around a planned IPO.
In the U.S., Shein has called on the law firms Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and Hobart Hallaway & Quayle Ventures to deal with legislative and regulatory issues, but has also created links with personalities close to Donald Trump, such as his former advisor and candidate for FBI director Kash Patel, or Hope Hicks, the former White House communications manager.
On the Old Continent, Shein has also called on specialist firms such as Kekst CNC, which specializes in strategies for European bodies, and, in France, the communications agency Plead and, more recently, the corporate and political communications agency Image 7.
Only around twenty employees in France
Internally, Leonard Lin, who has been head of Europe since last year, has also been the group's global public affairs director since 2022. Shein, which has only around twenty employees in France, has recruited specialists in political communications with Fabrice Layer, director of government relations who previously worked for Chinese telephony specialist Huawei, and Quentin Ruffat, director of brand communications in France and formerly of the Havas and 35°Nord agencies.
Last year, the group's management, and in particular its president Donald Tang, met with representatives of the fashion industry in Europe, as well as various political representatives, to present its model. The company has also enlisted the support of key political figures such as former European Commissioner for Energy, the Digital Economy, and the Budget, Günther Oettinger; former French Secretary of State Nicole Guedj; Medef representative Bernard Spitz; and high-profile former Interior Minister Christophe Castaner.
Since last year, the latter has been involved in disseminating some of the ultra-fast fashion giant's key communication axes in the context of the future law. Shein built its remarks around four axes: social impact, economic impact on fashion, innovation, and environmental impact.
'We're in the process of inventing a VAT on the products of the poorest people. I find that quite disgusting,' declared the former minister at the beginning of the year.
Noting a gap between the actions of consumers and criticisms of its activity that could be perceived as coming from a certain French elite, Shein has since dug this furrow in the run-up to the Senate debates on the anti-fast fashion law.
Last week, two associations sent a letter to the president of the Haute Autorité pour la Transparence de la Vie Publique, asking him to 'exercise his right of control' over Shein's lobbying activities, pointing to 'potential irregularities in the Shein group's declarations of interest representation activities,' and in particular to the work carried out by Christophe Castaner.
With the version of the bill put forward by Senator Sylvie Valente Le-Hir, chairwoman of the committee, the text targets platforms like Shein with an evolving malus reaching an additional €10 per product in 2030.
At the end of April, Shein ran a campaign devised by the Havas agency in the regional daily press and certain mainstream media, deliberately ignoring the offerings of other low-cost fashion players, associating a law affecting its business as being against the purchasing power of the French. The subject is necessarily a sensitive one, given that 8 out of 10 people in France are concerned by it (according to a Toluna Harris Interactive survey published in early May)… and therefore by members of parliament.
However, the group is also leveraging additional strategies to address the wide range of criticism it faces. On the environmental and social front, it emphasizes supplier audits and points to a €15 million investment plan announced in 2023. Spanning four years, the initiative aims to improve working conditions and upgrade equipment across its network of partner workshops.
Like the big names in the sector, Shein's management uses graphs and figures to highlight these audits of working conditions and product quality. The aim is to provide reassurance on its products' social and hazard aspects, and even to position itself as a player in the sector's eco-responsible transition. Shein has set itself the target of having 31% of its polyester (which accounts for three-quarters of its production) recycled by 2030. With this in mind, the company has announced the launch of its own recycled polyester production facility.
But one of the key points of criticism concerns the millions of pieces produced by Shein every year. The group struggles to justify the massive shipments of products by air from China. The company's argument sidesteps the issue and highlights its real-time on-demand model. According to the group, its series of 100 to 200 pieces of a model to meet consumer demand dramatically reduces return rates. 'Where the industry is around a 20% return rate, we have a single-digit return rate,' claims the company, arguing that its garments are desired and therefore kept.
A defense of its model that relies on long-term work to present itself as an innovative company, not a fashion retailer. The company explains that its integrated R&D teams, based in China, are currently working on new, more efficient and ecological printing solutions, or on optimizing the use of materials. It is positioning itself as a partner for European players in textile innovation. Last July, the group announced that it was dedicating a budget of €200 million over 10 years to support innovative start-ups in textile recycling.
Step by step, this approach is bearing fruit. Next month, Shein will be participating for the first time in the VivaTech trade show, dedicated to technological innovation and start-ups. The ultra-fast-fashion giant is organizing two competitions for French and European textile recycling start-ups under the slogan 'Shaping the Future of Circularity in Fashion.' It's fair to say that the platform's detractors, whether fashion industry representatives or environmentalists, have little taste for the green light given by VivaTech's management (supported by the LVMH group).
And Shein is just the thing to turn criticism on its head. In terms of economic impact, for example, while a number of long-established fashion brands and retailers deplore Shein's unfair competition (the company does not, they claim, declare its sales by country and does not pay a tax linked to its actual volume of activity), and its impact on European ecosystems, the group claims a positive impact. This began with a rather classic report by Oxford Economics, which gauged Shein's economic impact on the French economy in 2023 at '€640 million, for 2,900 jobs,' most of these figures being indirect impacts, as the group has no intention of opening permanent stores.
A policy of supporting young designers to improve its image
Well aware that public authorities and federations have limited resources to support creators and companies, Shein began its offensive by supporting young creators. The company highlighted the fact that anyone who designs a garment can sell it on its site and benefit from royalties via its Shein X designers competition. 'With Shein X, you're a designer, you own the intellectual property of your creations. I help you source, manufacture, market and sell your products,' explains Leonard Lin. 'But today, we want to extend this model. How can we work with established brands, or even young brands struggling to evolve, and take them to the next level? We offer them our expertise in digital services, digital marketing and, if they wish, they can benefit from the platform.'
So the group is currently setting up a new Paris office to house its Shein X Fashion Forward service, to integrate some fifty brands over the next six months. Management has indicated that several well-known names have submitted applications. Not surprisingly, for a number of fashion players in a delicate position, opening up to the platform's tens of millions of European customers could represent an opportunity—despite the potential notoriety risk of launching themselves on the platform. And for Shein, it would guarantee being able to present itself as a supporter of French fashion.
By working on these four fronts, it is not certain that Shein will succeed in modifying in its favor the wording of the bill to be proposed by the Senate on June 10. In the medium term, however, the Asian giant's investment in its model and communications could dilute the relevance of its criticisms. It won't change the minds of its critics, but it will pave the way for the group's European resilience and, above all, for its key IPO project.
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