Fast fashion, Italy fines Shein for deceptive practices
Environment — di Simone Santi
Fast fashion, Italy fines the Shein giant for deceptive and misleading environmental claims
Fast fashion, Italy fines Shein for deceptive practices
Fast fashion, Italy fines the Shein giant for deceptive and misleading environmental claims
- The Agcm fines Shein one million euros for using a deceptive communication strategy regarding the characteristics and environmental impact of its products.
- Three campaigns are under scrutiny: #SHEINTHEKNOW, "evoluSHEIN" and the "Social Responsibility" section.
- According to the Authority, the behaviour is all the more serious given that the company operates in the fast fashion sector, which has a high pollution rate.
The Italian Competition and Market Authority has imposed a fine of one million euros on Infinite Styles Services Co. Ltd, the company that manages Shein's retail websites in Europe: the well-known brand, which operates in the "fast" and "superfast fashion" sector, has been penalised for using a deceptive communication strategy regarding the characteristics and environmental impact of its clothing products.
Those deceptive and misleading "green claims"
According to the Agcm, Shein used deceptive environmental claims (green claims), or ones that omitted key information, in the promotion and sale of its own branded clothing products. Shein, through its website and other informational or promotional online pages, spread environmental claims such as #SHEINTHEKNOW, "evoluSHEIN" and "Social Responsibility" — in some cases vague, generic and excessively emphatic, in other cases containing misleading and omissive information.
📢 L'#AGCM ha sanzionato per 1 milione di euro la società che gestisce i siti Shein in Europa per #greenwashing: usati claim ambientali ingannevoli, vaghi o omissivi su sostenibilità e riciclabilità.
Maggiori dettagli nel #comunicatostampa: bit.ly/AGCM_Shein
Maggiori dettagli nel #comunicatostampa: bit.ly/AGCM_Shein
In particular, the #SHEINTHEKNOW campaign, relating to the "design of a circular system" and which insisted on the recyclability of the products placed on the market, was found to be false or at least misleading. The claims used by Shein to present, describe and promote the clothing items in the "evoluSHEIN by Design" line, on the other hand, according to the Agcm emphasise the use of "green" fibres without clearly indicating what the substantial environmental benefits of the products are throughout their entire life cycle, and without specifying that this product line remains marginal compared to the total number of Shein-branded products. Furthermore, these statements may lead consumers to believe not only that the "evoluSHEIN by Design" collection is made exclusively from "eco-sustainable" materials, but also that the products in this collection are fully recyclable — a claim that, given the fibres used and the recycling systems currently available, does not hold true.
🔵#Shein Multa dall'Antitrust per 1mln€. Secondo l'autorità la piattaforma di e-commerce di abbigliamento usa e getta cinese ha utilizzato una strategia ingannevole esagerando le sue credenziali sull'impatto ambientale. La società opera in un settore altamente inquinante.
As for "Social Responsibility", Shein's announcements of its intention to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 per cent by 2030 and to eliminate them entirely by 2050 are presented in a generic and vague manner, and are in fact contradicted by the increase in greenhouse gas emissions from Shein's operations in 2023 and 2024. In assessing the impropriety of Shein's conduct, the Agcm highlighted the greater duty of diligence that falls upon the company because it operates in a highly polluting sector and in a highly polluting manner — namely that of so-called "fast fashion" clothing.
Shein, moreover, did not deny the charges brought against it — quite the opposite: the company explained that it had "already taken immediate steps to address the concerns raised as soon as we became aware of them. We have strengthened our internal review processes and improved our website to ensure that all environmental claims are clear, specific and compliant with regulations." The Italian fine was announced just over a month after France's equivalent of Italy's Agcm had imposed a penalty of 40 million euros on Shein for "deceptive commercial practices".