Opinion France is at war with Shein. We should copy its tactics to defeat fast fashion Nicole Lipman The dirt-cheap clothing company has opened its first permanent store in Paris – and politicians and workers have united against it Follow Nicole Lipman in My Guardian Notifications off 309 Tue 11 Nov 2025 10.00 CET Listen to this article P aris is the fashion capital of the world – a paradise of couture and craftsmanship stretching back centuries. The city’s very name connotes luxury and glamour. But last Wednesday, 5 November, a sprawling Shein outlet opened on the sixth floor of the BHV Marais, the historic department store directly across from Paris’s city hall. It’s the Singapore-based ultra-fast-fashion store’s first permanent bricks and mortar retail space, and the first of several permanent outposts Shein plans to open in France in the near future. Many Parisians aren’t happy about it. Shein – launched as SheInside in 2011 in Nanjing, China – is the reprehens...