<\/p>\n
Paris has a sanctified reputation in fashion. The city witnessed the rise of modern couture with Charles Frederick Worth<\/a> in the 19th century, then a radical lineage of designers<\/a> in the century that followed, including Coco Chanel and Christian Dior. Ever since, outsiders<\/a> have anointed Parisians as the trend-setters of chic, sophisticated daily dress.\u00a0<\/p>\n But that long-standing and carefully protected prestige is now in limbo. On Wednesday, Nov. 5, Shein \u2014 a fast-fashion giant infamous for exploitative labor practices<\/a> \u2014 arrived in Paris<\/a>, the very capital of couture. The company\u2019s first permanent brick-and-mortar boutique has moved into the sixth floor of the iconic BHV Marais<\/a> department store, a historic retail hub that sits within view of the H\u00f4tel de Ville and the Notre-Dame.<\/p>\n The French are up in arms<\/a>, and, frankly, they have reason to be. The Singapore-based company represents everything Parisians loathe<\/a>: cheap fabrication, algorithmic trend-churn and blatant imitation. And the laundry list of the company\u2019s wrongdoing is only getting longer. Just this week, French regulators started proceedings<\/a> to suspend Shein after it was found selling childlike sex dolls on its online retail platform in France. Many weren\u2019t surprised<\/a>. Instances of similarly grotesque product offerings<\/a>, severe underpayment of workers<\/a>, forced labor allegations<\/a> and mass plagiarism of independent designers<\/a> have become all too common for the company. And now, with France providing Shein with its first permanent location, the former fashion destination looks complicit in these practices.<\/p>\n Another facet of this tension relates to environmental responsibility. France regularly ranks among the more climate-conscious countries<\/a> of the world, and just last year introduced legislation<\/a> to curb textile waste and regulate overproduction in fast fashion. Shein, known for its environmental negligence in production<\/a>, threatens to undo that progress. According to The Guardian<\/a>, the company produces up to 10,000 new products a day and ships to more than 150 countries. The emissions from both the deliveries and the inevitable tidal wave of returns further shatter any illusion that the company\u2019s digital commerce is clean. And so, Shein\u2019s arrival feels like another contradiction of the values France has been projecting to the world<\/a>.<\/p>\n