The French Parliament passes a bill restricting fast fashion

France has passed a bill to limit fast fashion. The bill aims to gradually increase penalties to 10 euros ($11) per clothing item by 2030 and ban advertising for fast fashion products. The bill will need to be presented to the French Senate before it can become law.

Fast fashion retailers like Shein and Temu have disrupted the retail sector due to their flexible supply chains that allow them to scale orders based on demand, while established companies like Zara and H&M rely heavily on predicting shopper preferences. However, the growing popularity of unsustainable fashion with rising volumes and low prices is creating environmental, social, and economic consequences.

Shein, a Chinese fast fashion company, has argued that the clothes it produces meet existing demand, which has allowed the percentage of unsold garments to stay in the low single digits, while traditional garment manufacturers can contribute up to 40% of waste.

Secondhand clothes are left to rot in a dumpsite in Ghana. (Photo: Muntaka Chasant/REX/Shutterstock)

Although some people believe that the bill will weaken the purchasing power of French consumers, French Environment Minister Christophe Béchu sees the bill as a “big step forward” in reducing the environmental impact of the textile industry.

France has already launched a program in 2023 to encourage people to repair and reuse old clothes and shoes instead of throwing them away. The French government committed 154 million euros ($168 million) to the initiative, reimbursing shoppers up to 25 euros ($27.20) for each garment they repaired. Refashion, the non-profit group tasked with implementing the plan, revealed that 3.3 billion items of clothing, home linen, and footwear were sold on the French market in 2022. The country’s Ministry of Ecology also revealed that French people throw away 700,000 tons of clothing every year, two-thirds of which go to landfill.

According to the annual State of Fashion report released by The Business of Fashion and McKinsey & Company, fashion accounts for 3% to 5% of global carbon emissions and is one of the world’s top polluting industries. The report also highlights that about half of the fibers produced by the industry are oil-based polyester.