The cost of cheap clothes: Shein’s fast fashion empire faces EU reckoning

From fake discounts to missing contact details, Shein is under fire from Irish and EU watchdogs over alleged legal breaches

Shein routinely uses fake discounts, which seem to offer better deals by showing price reductions, but these reductions are not actually based on prior prices, as required by EU law. Picture: Paulo Nunes dos Santos/Bloomberg

Chinese fast fashion brand Shein is usually in the news because of its poor human rights and environmental record. This week, its anti-consumer practices came under the spotlight.

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC), along with the European Commission and national consumer authorities in Belgium, France and The Netherlands have called on Shein to rectify several practices on its platform that potentially breach EU consumer law.