Warta Kema – (5/11) Shein opened its first-ever permanent store in the city of fashion, Paris, despite
a long list of backlash from the fashion enthusiasts. Shein is an online platform where people can sell
and buy clothes, yet it has been receiving negative reviews. Ignoring the hatred and negative reviews,
Shein still decided to open its first permanent store in Paris and is now available to shop at. Then, why

are people, especially fashion enthusiasts, furious when they found out Shein opened its first
permanent store in Paris?

These protests all started with the opening of Shein’s first outlet at the Bazar de l’Hôtel de Ville (BHV)
Marais, a department store in Paris, in early November 2025. The BHV Marais’ store was crowded
with local protesters who brought “ANTI-SHEIN” and other protest signs on the day of the opening.
Local police officers gathered around the perimeter of the department store to prevent the protestors
from ruining the opening day.

The Shein “hate chain” does not only come from the citizens of Paris, but it also comes from France’s
government. Following the opening of Shein’s outlet, France’s government immediately took action to
prevent more similar stores from opening in France, especially in Paris. The government appealed to
suspend Shein’s website and any other similar websites, such as Temu and AliExpress, after Shein
allegedly sold illicit products on its website. But the appeal was dismissed by the court in December
after a negotiation with Shein, the store will not sell inappropriate products in any form.
People, Parisians and international citizens, seem to hate Shein because it is considered an ultra-fast
fashion store. Shein sells a large amount of clothes in a short amount of time, which can be called a
fast-fashion store. Shein’s products are mostly made with non-biodegradable materials like polyester
and other plastic materials. These plastic materials can endanger both people’s health and the
environment.
Besides hazardous materials, Shein does not align with Paris’s vision of fashion. Paris believes that
fashion is sustainable, chic, comfortable, and safe to wear. The vision can be seen through
Parisian-owned brands, from the high-end brands like Chanel to contemporary labels such as Rouje.

Shein’s products may look gorgeous, but the process of making the products is harming the
environment, and the products are not sustainable.

Harming the environment is one thing, but Shein is also harming its factory workers by making them
work overtime with little pay. According to the Public Eye, a Swiss advocacy group, excessive overtime
is still common for many workers. Yet the pay still ranges between 6,000 and 10,000 yuan per month,
while the living wage in China is around 6,512 yuan.

As if the lower salary for more work is not enough to harm people, Shein was also found to have hired
children as their factory workers in 2023. Yinan Zhu, Shein’s general counsel for Europe, the Middle
East, and Africa, wrote in a letter about this discovery. Zhu wrote that one of the incidents that
involved a child was just a misunderstanding. The child’s parents were factory workers, and the child
was only visiting their parents at work. While the second case involved a child who was 15 back then.
According to Yinan Zhu, it was proven to be a child labour case because the child had been working at
one of Shein’s factories in 2023 when the child was only 15 years old.

The news about Shein’s outlet in Paris has spread widely across the world. The Shein “hate chain”
then continues and spreads with the news. The fact that Shein has a permanent store in Paris instead of
just a pop-up store or has none at all ridicules people who hate Shein in the first place.

France’s action to erase fast-fashion brands is something that may inspire other nations to slowly erase
fast-fashion brands from the world’s surface. Fast-fashion is the one thing that not only harms the
environment, but it can also harm people. The “hate chain” towards Shein’s permanent outlet in the
city of fashion is the first step that the human race can take to prevent more fast-fashion brands from
opening. While Shein’s store is still available to shop in Paris, Parisians’ response to this is the first step
to completely erasing fast fashion. So, do you still want to support brands like Shein or preserve
sustainable brands instead?

Writer: Alana Saraswati
Editor: Khayla Dinda Pradwina, Elga Thalita Perangin Angin, Fernaldhy Rossi Armanda