Thus, the Macron-era MP Olivia Grégoire found herself sharply criticized on X (formerly Twitter) after posting a tweet that attacked Frédéric Merlin, the owner of BHV. Several internet users accused her of being completely out of touch with the people and their interests. Among them, Zohra Bitan, well known to RMC listeners, who published a lengthy, vengeful tweet:
“On one hand, you can’t lament the purchasing power crisis, praise small shops with prices inaccessible to working-class people, reject fast fashion… and offer nothing else. Access to clothing and fashion is access to equality. Fashion isn’t a privilege reserved for the rich. The era when fabrics belonged to the nobility is over. It’s easy to fly four times a month and lecture others about ecology, while you prevent the poor from dressing decently. They are denied both small businesses and fast fashion. In short, they’re refused everything. At heart, it’s all about purchasing power, including ecology. And when you ask the poor not only to stay poor but also to be eco-friendly, that’s a massive slap in the face.”
Other Internet users replied that the French “do what they want” with their money, that the anti-Shein crusade is aimed at “forbidding the poor from dressing as they wish,” or that the current cost of living forces the French to rely on Shein with its unbeatable prices. The author Marc Vanguard wondered whether, “indeed,” the arrival of Shein at BHV might actually be good news for “our clothing businesses” that offer products “endorsed by the French” and affordable to everyone. Another interesting argument in the comments is that in towns of 100,000 inhabitants, clothing stores have already been replaced and have been closing their physical shops long before the appearance of Shein.
Similarly, on LinkedIn, many professionals and entrepreneurs spoke out to denounce a form of prevailing hypocrisy around fast fashion and to defend Shein’s model. For Rachida Madani, a real estate manager, if the Chinese company is demonized, it is mainly because it “invented the model that many dream of but do not know how to or do not want to adopt.” She also highlights the double standard of criticizing Shein while sparing other giants like H&M.
The same sentiment was echoed by Charles Bensoussan, head of a digital agency, who laments that in France, “when innovation disturbs, regulation is brandished like a shield,” preferring to stifle rather than understand. Thibault Lavielle, an entrepreneur who heads several textile brands, sums up the general mood with a memorable line: “The anti-Shein crusade isn’t about protecting the planet; it’s economic warfare.”
Other voices, like Océane Savoy, a sales prospecting specialist, believe that Shein is “punished for pushing innovation too far,” while Seddik Belalit, a training professional, denounces “pure and simple favoritism” toward brands like Zara, H&M, or Kiabi. Finally, Sofia Hilali, a digital strategist, points to a sensitive issue: in her view, hostility toward Shein isn’t ethical and resembles more a power struggle. “For some, the stake isn’t the environment but market control,” she writes, noting that “H&M, Zara, or Zalando aren’t French, but that seems less serious because they aren’t Asian.”
The BVA Poll: Between Illusions and Contradictions
A recent BVA survey focused on the Chinese clothing giants confirms this split between rhetoric and reality. Asked about their shopping habits, more than half of French people say they primarily buy clothes “made in France or Europe.” A flattering claim, but misleading: about 95% of clothing sold in France is produced abroad, and nearly 70% comes from China. This colossal gap highlights consumer ignorance about the true origin of their clothes, as well as the distance between ethical intentions and purchasing behavior.
According to Mathieu Gallard, director of studies at BVA, this should not be read as conscious hypocrisy: “Consumers face opposing pressures. On one hand, purchasing power, and on the other, a society where it is valued to regularly replace one’s wardrobe.” Not surprisingly, price tops the buying criteria (62%), ahead of quality (58%) and durability (32%).
These tensions are further amplified by the new 2-euro tax on packages imported from outside the European Union, available starting in 2025. While some media present it as a measure targeting Shein or Temu, it actually applies to all foreign packages under 150 euros. Each item contained in a package will be subject to this tax, before VAT is applied. A measure that, far from penalizing only Chinese fast fashion, will directly affect French purchasing power, whether people order from Asian or European platforms.
In short, the BVA poll reveals a troubling truth: the French claim to value responsible consumption, but their purchases primarily reflect an economic urgency. Between lofty environmental rhetoric and the wallet’s constraints, Shein and the other low-cost giants still seem to have bright days ahead.
A proposal deemed “lunatic”: Philippe Juvin under fire
As if the controversy weren’t enough, a new political proposal lit up social media. On X, many users shared a clip from LCP in which Philippe Juvin, a member of the Les Républicains party, suggests imposing a 50-euro tax on small packages from platforms like Shein. The idea was immediately ridiculed online and labeled “lunatic.”
Users did not hesitate to emphasize the disconnect and the disproportion of such a measure, which would make consumers pay multiple times the value of the products purchased. Many saw it as yet another sign of a political class out of touch with the realities of purchasing power, aiming to punish consumers rather than proposing structural solutions. In a tense context, this 50-euro tax proposal reinforced the sense that between moral outrage and economic contempt, some lawmakers have clearly lost their sense of priorities.
Shein continues to fuel passions. But the legislative agenda of our MPs is today taken up by other, far more urgent matters than hindering companies and reducing the purchasing power of the French, given the major instability affecting our institutions. Perhaps that is what Olivia Grégoire, Philippe Juvin, and so many others should be concerned about…
