Vive la Shein Révolution

Image - Kiko Camaclang

With the end of Paris Fashion Week, many of us looked in awe at the array of boas, trench coats and poofy dresses on display. What life could’ve been like if only we were a high-fashion model’s nepo baby, hey?

Well, what if I were to tell you that, in France, there is a cheap alternative. A brand that offers the complete Pretty Woman shopping experience from maxi dresses to trench coats and bedazzled sandals for a more cost-of-living crisis friendly price: Primark.

Before the scepticism that Primark is nothing like Louis Vuitton, I invite you to first lean into the dream, and bear with me. This is because Primark offers cheap clothes with a growing focus on ethical sourcing, where you can come out with bags upon bags hanging from your arms.

Primark is the Luddite of the fashion world. It is a brand that goes against the wave of the times, with little internet presence and very little advertising. This would be detrimental for most brands, but it seems to have only bolstered Primark’s image. According to Laurence Toy-Riont (a senior manager at Pixis Conseil, a business consultancy firm), Primark’s 100% physical model means that fewer people end up returning the clothes they buy; only 3% of their products are sent back, compared to 20% for online competitors.

If shopping online is just as cheap as going in store, and you can shop whilst watching television, why are people still opting for the real deal?

In fact, this is part of a wider cultural movement in France. Whilst in England, fashion is more about convenience and its waterproof ability, fashion in France is intrinsic to its cultural foundations. Paris is the fashion capital of the world, and it could be that cheap, unsustainable, poor-quality clothing from abroad is deeply rattling for French society. Fashion has been an integral part of it long before the times of the revolution, and if Shein had been around at the time, it would have been sent to the guillotine.

What is most shocking is the new opening of a Shein shop in Galeries Lafayette in Paris. Maybe Shein is trying to take a page out of Primark’s marketing strategy book by opening a physical store. However, unlike Primark, Shein’s new venture has been met with extreme pushback from the French public, Galeries Lafayette itself and worse, the government.

If you’re Eoin Tonge, the CEO of Primark, this tension is music to your ears. You can sit back and watch as one of your biggest competitors in the French fashion market battles it out with none other than the French government. If Shein is not careful, this battle could lead to war. In fact, in the past three months, France has fined Shein nearly €200 million for consumer protection violations and “misleading discounts”. If the government itself is willing to take such measures against a fashion company, then Shein must get ready to fight.

But it is not just the government that is fighting on the battlefield, it’s also French consumers themselves. There has been a large youth movement against the fashion conglomerate for its disregard for the environment. Most notably, young people have moved towards the second-hand shopping market to fight consumerism. Second-hand fashion now accounts for 11.8% of the fashion market in France.

Therefore, Shein will have to do a lot more than open a store to win back its French clientele. The French certainly do not shy away from a protest, and it looks like Shein is their next target. We will have to wait and see whether Shein’s physical store lasts the year. If I were a betting man, I’d put my money on the French people and their ability to overthrow anything or anyone that gets in their way.

In the meantime, we can live out our Paris fashion week dreams in the safe hands of Primark.

As the French would say, Vive la révolution.