French Parliament Votes to Slow Down Fast Fashion

France is taking aim at fast fashion, especially from China. Christophe ARCHAMBAULT / AFP
France is taking aim at fast fashion, especially from China. Christophe ARCHAMBAULT / AFP
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French Parliament Votes to Slow Down Fast Fashion

France is taking aim at fast fashion, especially from China. Christophe ARCHAMBAULT / AFP
France is taking aim at fast fashion, especially from China. Christophe ARCHAMBAULT / AFP

France's parliament on Thursday backed a string of measures making low-cost fast fashion, especially from Chinese mass producers, less attractive to buyers.
The vote makes France the first country in the world "legislating to limit the excesses of ultra fast fashion", said Christophe Bechu, minister for the ecological transition.
Key measures include a ban on advertising for the cheapest textiles, and an environmental charge slapped on low-cost items, AFP said.
The French clothes market has been flooded with cheap imported clothes, while several homegrown brands have declared bankruptcy.
But the main arguments put forward by Horizons -- the party allied to President Emmanuel Macron submitting the draft law -- were environmental.
"Textile is the most polluting industry," said Horizons deputy Anne-Cecile Violland, saying the sector accounted for 10 percent of greenhouse gas emissions and was a major polluter of water.
She singled out Chinese company Shein and its "7,200 new clothing items per day" as a prime example of intensive fashion production.
France will apply criteria such as volumes of clothes produced and turnover speed of new collections in determining what constitutes fast fashion, according to the law.
Once the law comes into force -- which still requires a vote in the Senate -- precise criteria will be published in a decree.
Fast fashion producers will be forced to inform consumers about the environmental impact of their output.
A surcharge linked to fast fashion's ecological footprint of five euros ($5.45) per item is planned from next year, rising to 10 euros by 2030. The charge cannot, however, exceed 50 percent of an item's price tag.
Violland said the proceeds from the charge would be used to subsidize producers of sustainable clothes, allowing them to compete more easily.
A measure to limit advertising for fast fashion was also approved, although conservative lawmaker Antoine Vermorel-Marques remarked that "a ban on advertising for textiles, especially fashion, spells the end of fashion".
An initiative brought by left-wing and Green party deputies to include minimum penalties for producers breaking the rules as well as import quotas and stricter workplace criteria in the industry into the new law was struck down.
High-end fashion is a cornerstone of the French economy thanks to leading global luxury brands like Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Hermes, Dior and Cartier.
But the French lower-end fashion segment has lost ground to European rivals Zara, H&M and, more recently, to Chinese behemoths Shein and Temu.



Ralph Lauren Hikes Annual Sales Forecast on Strong Demand for High-end Apparel

A man walks past Ralph Lauren Corp.'s flagship Polo store on Fifth Avenue in New York City, US, April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
A man walks past Ralph Lauren Corp.'s flagship Polo store on Fifth Avenue in New York City, US, April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
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Ralph Lauren Hikes Annual Sales Forecast on Strong Demand for High-end Apparel

A man walks past Ralph Lauren Corp.'s flagship Polo store on Fifth Avenue in New York City, US, April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
A man walks past Ralph Lauren Corp.'s flagship Polo store on Fifth Avenue in New York City, US, April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Ralph Lauren raised its annual sales forecast after topping quarterly revenue estimates on Thursday, on steady demand for its cable-knit sweaters and Oxford shirts in North America, Europe and China, sending shares of the company 6% up in premarket trading.
Wealthy customers continue to splurge on high-end leather handbags and Polo sweat-shirts, boosting demand across Ralph's direct-to-customer channels and helping it counter a muted wholesale business and soft e-commerce sales in North America.
The results are in contrast to a pullback in the broader luxury sector, primarily in the key China market, which has hurt larger European fashion houses such as Hugo Boss, Kering and luxury bellwether LVMH.
The Club Monaco owner now expects fiscal year 2025 revenue to increase about 3% to 4% compared with a prior forecast of a 2% to 3% rise.
The luxury retailer's net revenue rose 6% to $1.73 billion in the second quarter ended Sept. 28 from a year earlier. Analysts on average had expected revenue of $1.68 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.