French Senate to vote on regulating fast fashion

The French Senate is set to vote Tuesday on a bill regulating the fast fashion industry by sanctioning companies and banning advertisements. The bill targets Chinese-founded e-commerce giant Shein, which sells lower-quality clothes at very low prices.

Fast fashion companies export large volumes of easily replaceable items to France, causing pollution and saturating markets. The lower house National Assembly adopted the bill in March 2024. The Senate will vote on it later Tuesday and is expected to pass it with government backing and widespread support in the chamber.

The vote will not mark the final legislative step. A joint committee of senators and lower house deputies will meet in September to produce a joint text before the law’s final adoption.

“The text plans to reduce the environmental impact of the textile industry,” said Anne-Cécile Violland, the center-right member of parliament who proposed the bill.

Fast fashion continues to grow in France. Between 2010 and 2023, the value of advertised products rose from €2.3 billion to €3.2 billion.

According to the state environmental agency Ademe, approximately 48 clothing items per person enter the French market each year, while 35 items are discarded every second.

“Fast fashion poses a triple threat,” said Minister for Ecological Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher. “It promotes overconsumption, causes ecological disaster and threatens our businesses.” The minister condemned an “invasion” of products that “do not last” and expressed hope that the bill would help drive change across Europe.

Pannier-Runacher said that once France adopts the bill, the European Commission will review it to ensure compliance with European law.

Targeting fast-fashion

The Senate, where the right holds a majority, modified the bill to specifically target “ultra” fast fashion companies such as Asian websites Shein and Temu.

The Senate’s amendments aim to exclude French and European brands that could otherwise be affected, such as Zara, H&M and Kiabi. However, the bill will still require these fashion giants to inform their customers about the environmental impact of their products.

“I have no intention of forcing French brands that contribute to our country’s economic vitality to pay a single euro,” said rapporteur Sylvie Valente Le Hir, a member of the right-wing The Republicans party.

The bill will impose stricter sanctions on fast-fashion companies by scoring their “environmental communication,” Pannier-Runacher said. This “eco-score” will apply to all fast-fashion companies.

Companies that receive the lowest scores will face government-imposed taxes of up to €5 per product in 2025, rising to €10 per product by 2030. This tax cannot exceed 50% of the product’s original price.

Advertisement ban

The bill will also impose sanctions on influencers promoting fast fashion products and ban fast fashion advertisements.

“The regulation of the fast fashion industry will only succeed through a collective effort, not by targeting a single actor,” Shein spokesperson Quentin Ruffat told RTL radio on Monday.

Ruffat warned that the law would introduce “a tax of €10 per sold item of clothing by 2030” and would “impact the purchasing power” of French consumers.

Environmental organizations also voiced concerns that lawmakers could misinterpret the bill. “Debates may amount to an interesting framework that still lacks substance,” said Green Senator Jacques Fernique.

On Monday, the Textiles Industry Union (UIT) recognized the bill as “a first step” and expressed hope for its “rapid adoption … even if the text does not entirely fit our expectations.”

FashionNetwork.com with AFP