The Italian competition authority, AGCM, has accused the Chinese fast fashion giant of adopting misleading communication strategies concerning the environmental characteristics and impact of its clothing products. The authority claims that Shein has disseminated misleading or false environmental claims in the promotion and sale of its apparel.
The messages, according to AGCM, were sometimes vague, generic, or overly emphatic, and in other cases, misleading or omissive. Specifically, the information regarding product recycling was found to be false or, at the very least, confusing. The regulator expressed concerns that consumers might easily believe that this e-commerce giant’s products were made exclusively from sustainable and fully recyclable materials, which does not reflect reality due to the fibers used and current recycling systems.
The company denied these accusations, asserting that the environmental information presented on its site is “clear, specific, and conforms with regulations.” In a statement to the French news agency Agence France-Presse, the company claimed it had “fully cooperated” with AGCM and had “taken immediate measures” to address the authority’s concerns.
Environmentalists have long warned about the damages caused by fast fashion’s wasteful trend in mass-producing cheap, quickly discarded clothing. This practice consumes vast amounts of water, releases hazardous chemicals, clogs landfills in poorer countries with textile waste, and generates greenhouse gases during production, transportation, and disposal.
