Shein focuses on physical shops and fashion shows. Why the ultra fast fashion bigwig is changing its approach

A network of permanent outlets in France, starting in Paris and the Bvh in the super-fashionable Marais, and then moving on to Dijon, Reims, Grenoble, Angers and Limoges in department stores under the Galeries Lafayette banner. The most famous in France. And then a fashion show-event in attendance, organised in Milan on 16 October, not to support emerging designers (as happened in the past in Paris) but to present the autumn-winter 2026 collection.

The initiatives announced by Shein lend themselves to an interesting reading: the ultra-fast fashion giant, in fact, seems to have initiated a process of (partial) change in its approach to business, going beyond online sales and the on-demand production model that envisages a monstrous offer (from 3 to 6 thousand new products per day, but only a few hundred actually produced per reference). All of this in response, perhaps, to a series of transformations in market conditions dependent on 'external' factors that the company - founded in 2012 by Chris Xu, currently based in Singapore - is having to cope with: changes in the buying habits of American and European customers; American tariffs that have weighed down Shein's (albeit very low) price lists. But also the new US customs policies that in August 2025 abolished the de minimis exemption for parcels ordered online with a value of less than USD 800. A rule that should also be implemented in the European Union by 2028: it is also advocated by the European Commission, which sent a recommendation to the co-legislators on this issue last February, and is a strategic priority for textile-fashion companies that recently, in Paris, signed a joint appeal to the EU institutions.

In the past Shein has experimented several times with selling in physical shops, but only with a limited horizon: it has opened temporary stores in the USA, in the main European capitals and also in Italy, from Verona to Naples via Milan. In the brief history of the company, there is alsoan (unsuccessful) attempt at a partnership with the American teen fashion brand Forever 21: in 2023, Shein entered into an agreement with the parent company Sparc Group to distribute Forever 21 branded products on its own platform and, in return, to use Forever 21's network of physical shops to strengthen its presence in the US (Shein's main market, together with Europe) and to offer certain services such as in-store returns. The collaboration did not work and Forever 21 filed for bankruptcy (the famous Chapter 11) for the second time in six years in February 2025.

It is the first time, however, that the company has announced permanent openings (in partnership with Societé des Grands Magasins, to which the parent company has sold the Galeries Lafayette and Bvh branded shops), which will probably lead Shein to adjust the focus of a business model that the company has always described as 'on demand'. In an interview with Sole 24 Ore in 2023, manager Peter Pearnot-Day described it as follows: "The model is based on what we call 'on-demand manufacturing'. We create a design and produce up to 200 examples worldwide. Then we put it online and see if and how many consumers buy the garment. We produce it according to demand, otherwise we put those few examples on sale and don't re-produce it. That way we cut out 'waste', as we don't have to guess what consumers will want'. This type of production, according to Shein's management, would have been decisive in limiting the environmental impact of a business that has always been (and is) very controversial on this front and on that of social responsibility. A hot topic both in France, where in June a law against fast fashion was approved in the Senate, and in Italy, where Shein, in August, was sanctioned by the Agcm for 1 million euro.

The presence of as many as five shops in France, however, does not seem entirely compatible with this 'on-demand' production model, as the shops require stock. It would, however, be in line with the company's intention to open more logistics facilities in Europe: in Italy, the one in Stradella will be closed in December 2025 and opened in 2022 under the external management of Fiege Logistics, but one will be opened in Poland. The move to increase the company's presence in the EU is also to be seen in the context of a reform of customs regulations: rumours have spoken of a tax of two euros per parcel for those coming from non-EU countries (most come from China, where Shein also produces), which would be reduced to 80 cents in the case of a company with warehouses in Europe.