Shein has taken its first physical step in Europe and has done so surrounded by serious controversy. The same day that the Chinese brand of fast fashion inaugurated its first permanent store in Paris -located in the historic BHV Marais shopping center-, the French Government announced the start of a procedure to suspend its online platform throughout the country.

The measure comes after an investigation promoted by the General Directorate of Competition, Consumption and Fraud Repression, which detected the sale of sex dolls with childlike appearance in the Shein marketplace. The authorities consider that the descriptions and categorization of the products “they left no room for doubt about its pedopornographic nature”.

The Paris prosecutor’s office has thus opened proceedings for the dissemination of pornographic content linked to minors, a crime that can lead to up to five years in prison and a 75,000 euro fine. “Enough of pedopornographic dolls, and now also knives. We are going to suspend the platform”the Minister of Commerce, Serge Papin, declared in the Assembly.

Hours before the official announcement, several brands and designers, such as Agnès B, had already confirmed that they would close their concessions at BHV in protest of the partnership with Shein. In parallel, more than 120,000 people have signed an online petition against the opening, while dozens of protesters gathered in front of the building chanting “Shame!” to shoppers in line.

The pressure has led Shein to preventively suspend all publications from third-party sellers in France, claiming that the decision was already planned before the Ministry’s announcement. Quentin Ruffat, Head of Public Affairs for Shein in France, assures that the company will cooperate with the authorities and that adult product categories have already been eliminated and sex dolls banned globally.

However, the brand has already taken the reputational hit: the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, has publicly criticized the opening; Galeries Lafayette has disassociated itself from future Shein stores in regional cities; and some parliamentarians have requested a European investigation into the company’s business model.

Shein is not only under scrutiny for its catalog, but also for its business model. The Asian conglomerate, founded in China and currently headquartered in Singapore, operates on extremely low margins, lightning-fast production and direct distribution, which has sparked accusations of labor exploitation, environmental destruction and tax evasion.

“I am completely against fast fashion. It is very bad for employment and for society”designer Agnès B told French public radio.

Amid criticism, the SGM group, owner of BHV and promoter of the concession, has defended its decision, arguing that Shein can attract a young audience that no longer visits department stores. Although at first he assured that he was going to reconsider the agreement after the accusations, it was finally decided to keep the store open, trusting in the “quality” of physical products compared to those in the online marketplace, where the controversy is concentrated.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Economy has warned that it will completely suspend the Shein website in France if it detects illegal products again, following the precedent set in 2021 with Wish, a platform that was blocked for more than a year.