Shein has said it will co-operate with investigations by French authorities after finance minister Roland Lescure threatened to ban the controversial online retailer from the country for selling childlike sex dolls on its marketplace.
French authorities opened an investigation into Shein and three other ecommerce platforms on Monday after receiving alerts about sex dolls resembling children being sold by multiple third party sellers on their sites.
“We will co-operate 100 per cent with the justice system,” Shein spokesman Quentin Ruffat told RMC radio on Tuesday.
“I have heard the concerns of the children’s commissioner ... these issues of child sexual abuse are too serious to be ignored,” he added.
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The controversy comes a day before Shein is due to open its first permanent store in Paris. The China-founded retailer’s expansion plans have been met with vocal opposition from businesspeople, consumers and politicians in France.
Shein said it had suspended its “adult products” category on its marketplace and imposed a global ban on sex doll sales.
The retailer, which is best known for selling cheap women’s fashion produced under its own brand, launched a broader online marketplace for third party sellers in 2023.
Donald Tang, Shein’s executive chair, said that “every related product has been removed. We are tracing the source and will take swift, decisive action against those responsible. We will also review our internal processes thoroughly and strengthen our safeguards to protect our customers and the integrity of our marketplace.”
Ruffat blamed “an internal dysfunction in our processes and governance” for the listings.
The furore around the sex dolls adds to a lengthy list of controversies involving Shein. The fast-fashion retailer, which sells a constantly changing range of clothes, has been accused of copying the work of independent designers and major brands.
Environmental campaigners have criticised the toll that Shein’s business model takes on the environment and the company itself confirmed last year that it found examples of child labour in its supply chain.
Meanwhile, Shein’s attempts to list on the public markets have run into difficulties in New York and London. The company filed for a Hong Kong IPO in July.
AliExpress, Temu and Wish are also being investigated by French authorities for selling sex dolls with a childlike appearance.
Shein is due to open its first permanent shop in Paris at department store BHV on Wednesday. The mayor’s office is organising a rally and press conference on Tuesday afternoon to voice its opposition to the move.
“If this behaviour [by Shein] is repeated ... I will request that the Shein platform be banned from the French market,” Lescure told BFMTV over the weekend. “These horrible items are illegal [and] there will be a judicial investigation.”
Shein is also this month scheduled to open concessions in several Galeries Lafayette stores outside Paris.
Frédéric Merlin, chief executive of the company that owns BHV and the licence to operate the Galeries Lafayette stores outside Paris, said on RTL that the organisation had considered halting the Shein roll-out over the controversy “before changing our minds”.
Several beauty and fashion brands, including Aime Paris and Maison Lejaby, have pulled their products from BHV in protest at Shein’s arrival.
The Houzé family, which owns Galeries Lafayette and still runs the high-end department stores in the French capital, have said they will contest Merlin’s decision to allow Shein to open in provincial locations.
Earlier in October, Banque des Territoires said it had pulled out of negotiations to buy some of BHV’s buildings, citing a “breach of trust” due to the plans to open Shein concessions. Some of the department store’s workers also went on strike over the decision last month.
“This is yet another scandal from Shein, the worst clothing company in the world,” Yann Rivoallan, the head of a French fashion industry association, wrote on LinkedIn, calling for more action to stop the openings at BHV and Galeries Lafayette.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025
