France has started putting a price on ultra-cheap fast fashion.
Under the new system, the fees range from €0.25 (around ₹26) for items such as socks and boxer shorts to €12 (around ₹1,260) for a coat. However, the charge cannot exceed 50% of the product’s pre-tax selling price. Its platform listed more than 2 million products as of March 31 this year, while adding around 4,700 new clothing styles every day, according to the company’s prospectus.
The charges are part of a fast-fashion law passed in June, aimed at tackling the environmental damage linked to overproduction and disposable clothing. The fast-fashion giant is already dealing with changes to duty-free rules for low-value e-commerce parcels in the European Union and the US. Those changes have added pressure on the company ahead of its planned stock-market debut in Hong Kong. France’s system goes beyond simply charging retailers based on how much clothing they sell. By comparison, European fashion retailers such as Zara and H&M have much smaller online ranges.
The country began imposing new fees on Tuesday on the extreme end of the fast-fashion market, targeting e-commerce platforms such as Shein and Temu as the government tries to slow the flood of low-cost clothing entering the market. French officials said on Monday that these companies aren’t expected to be significantly affected by the new system.