In October 2025, as France’s retail sector struggles and domestic brands face a wave of bankruptcies, Chinese fast-fashion giant SHEIN (希音) announced plans to open its first permanent brick-and-mortar stores in the country.
The move has stirred intense debate in France: supporters see it as an opportunity to revitalize city-center retail and attract young shoppers, while critics warn that amid the impact of “ultra-fast fashion,” France’s already deindustrialized apparel industry could face a new wave of “decommercialization.”
Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Singapore, SHEIN is known for its “low-price, high-frequency” model, with global revenue reaching USD 23 billion (EUR 20 billion) in 2022. The company’s decision to make France the first testing ground for its permanent retail strategy marks a pivotal moment in its global expansion.
According to Agence France-Presse and fashion news outlet FashionNetwork, SHEIN will open stores in six French cities starting this November. The first will be located inside BHV Marais in Paris, followed by outlets in Dijon, Reims, Grenoble, Angers, and Limoges inside Galeries Lafayette. To this end, SHEIN has partnered with French retail property firm Société des Grands Magasins, which owns and operates BHV and some Galeries Lafayette stores.
Donald Tang, Executive Chairman of SHEIN, said, “Choosing France as our first test market for physical retail is a tribute to Paris as the global capital of fashion. We aim to blend the speed and scale of e-commerce with the culture and human connection of offline retail to create a new omnichannel experience.” Frédéric Merlin, CEO of SGM, said the partnership could “breathe new life into city-center retail” and create about 200 direct and indirect jobs in France.
The decision has polarized public opinion. Emmanuel Lenoir, head of the Grenoble Retailers Association, called it “a rare piece of good news,” arguing that the stores will draw foot traffic and revive surrounding businesses. But the Alliance du Commerce countered, “SHEIN cannot save the very industry it helped weaken.” Yann Rivoallan, president of the French Women’s Ready-to-Wear Federation, said, “It might bring a few thousand euros in rent for BHV, but for France, it could mean tens of thousands of lost jobs.”
Local business owners have also voiced concern over SHEIN’s low-price model. A clothing store owner in Reims told TF1 that “none of our clothes sell for less than EUR 20, while SHEIN’s average price is under EUR 10. Consumers are increasingly focused on price rather than quality, and many independent retailers may be forced to close.”
Meanwhile, Galeries Lafayette has publicly rejected SHEIN’s entry into five of its franchised stores, citing a misalignment in brand values and business philosophy. The Paris City Government has also urged SGM to reconsider the partnership, emphasizing the need to prioritize local brands.
According to Les Échos, data from the Institut Français de la Mode show that in less than two years, Chinese cross-border e-commerce platforms such as SHEIN and Temu have captured about 5% of France’s apparel market. Dominique Schelcher, CEO of retail giant Coopérative U, warned, “This could be the final blow—France’s fashion and home retail sectors have already lost 60,000 jobs over the past decade, and the decline is accelerating.”
France’s retail vacancy rate now stands at 10%, rising to 15% in priority redevelopment zones. Following decades of offshoring to Asia—especially China—the country’s textile output fell from EUR 38 billion in 1990 to EUR 16.4 billion in 2015. Data from the Ecological Planning Agency show that 97% of textiles consumed in France are now imported, with imports from China rising from 12% in 2020 to 22% in 2024.
Analysts argue that SHEIN’s expansion into France reflects not only the global ambitions of Chinese fast-fashion brands but also the structural crisis facing Europe’s retail ecosystem. Over the past three decades, European brands outsourced production to Asia; now they face the full return of the value chain—from manufacturing to retail—shifting abroad. As Les Échos commented, “The boomerang of Europe’s deindustrialization is coming back in the form of decommercialization.”
Amid intensifying global e-commerce competition, SHEIN’s retail experiment in France is a bold test. It challenges the resilience of French retail and forces Europe to confront a deeper question: in a world of restructured supply chains, who truly holds the future of fashion?