Shein called its fast fashion 'sustainable' — France fined it €40M and Italy added €1M

On 3 July 2025, French regulators fined Shein €40 million for deceptive business practices — fake price discounts and misleading environmental claims about the sustainability of its products. The fine was one of the largest ever imposed on a fast-fashion company in Europe.

Five weeks later, on 4 August 2025, Italy's Competition Authority (AGCM) fined Shein an additional €1 million for misleading and omissive green claims about the characteristics and environmental impact of its clothing. The AGCM found that Shein's sustainability messaging was vague, unsubstantiated and designed to appeal to environmentally conscious consumers without reflecting the reality of a business model built on ultra-fast, disposable fashion.

The two fines together totalled €41 million — a small number for a company of Shein's scale, but a large signal. European regulators were establishing that 'sustainable' is a claim that requires evidence, not a marketing word that can be printed on a polyester dress. The fast-fashion model and the sustainability claim are structurally incompatible, and the regulators were the first to say so in writing.