Online fast-fashion retailer Shein is strengthening its controls after a string of fines over data privacy breaches, fake discounts and greenwashing, according to a letter to investors, internal memos and two sources with direct knowledge of the plan.
Reuters
Shein, which ships cheap clothes and accessories direct from factories in China to more than 150 countries, has grown to become the world’s biggest fast fashion retailer by sales. But its rapid expansion has been accompanied by regulatory breaches in multiple markets.
In a letter to investors reviewed by Reuters, executive chairman Donald Tang said the company has created a “Business Integrity Group” that connects compliance, governance and external affairs teams, and has also expanded its internal audit capabilities to strengthen “discipline”.
In the past three months Shein has faced mounting penalties: a 150 million euro ($174.53 million) fine from France over website cookies collecting consumer data without consent, a 40 million euro penalty from France’s antitrust agency for misleading discounts, and a 1 million euro fine from Italy over greenwashing. Shein is contesting the 150 million euro fine.
Further fines could follow if a European consumer protection probe finds that products sold on its website fail to meet EU safety standards. Founded in China and headquartered in Singapore, Shein has filed for a stock market listing in Hong Kong, after failed attempts to list in New York and London.
According to the letter, Shein has piloted enhanced internal controls in the United States, Canada, Brazil and Mexico.
The company declined to comment on the letter’s contents. It is currently hiring for two governance, risk and compliance policy analysts and one internal audit manager in Los Angeles, according to its career website and LinkedIn. It was not clear if the jobs being advertised are additional roles.
The internal overhaul focuses on areas where Shein faces legal risk, like breaches of copyright and product safety laws, a separate source with direct knowledge of the matter said.
As Shein’s global profile has grown, so too have its risks, prompting senior management to allocate more resources to address persistent compliance problems, the source said.
Tang acknowledged “heightened challenges” in the second quarter, citing U.S. tariffs and “intensifying political and regulatory headwinds” in Europe. The letter, which has not been previously reported, was sent on August 25, according to a second source.
“In Q2 we grew firmly in line with both our global expansion plan and our financial projections,” Tang wrote.
The end of duty-free treatment for low-value online orders has hit Shein’s U.S. sales – the company’s largest market – forcing it to raise prices to offset higher costs.
Coresight Research estimates Shein’s U.S. revenue will grow 20.1% in 2025, to $17.2 billion, down from estimated growth of 50% in 2024. Shein has shifted more of its marketing spending to Europe (including the UK), which is expected to surpass the U.S. in revenue for the first time this year, growing 30.7% to $17.9 billion.
Europe, especially France, has become the epicentre of scrutiny of Shein’s business practices.
An investigation by a French agency of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) prompted by a complaint from two French lawmakers found last week that Shein does not comply with OECD guidelines on responsible business conduct, due diligence, working rights, environmental standards, and transparency.
“Information about the activity of the group, its finances and its governance remains extremely rare, hindering a clear analysis of its business, its revenue and its structure in the European Union and globally,” the final report, published on September 29, stated.
A Shein spokesperson said the investigation “at times did not reflect the neutral mediation intended by the OECD framework” and rejected claims that Shein is in breach of various EU legislation, “specifically those that are not yet applicable”.
Prada will make a limited-edition collection of sandals in India inspired by the country’s traditional footwear, selling each pair at around 800 euros ($930), Prada senior executive Lorenzo Bertelli told Reuters, turning a backlash over cultural appropriation into a collaboration with Indian artisans.
The Italian luxury group plans to make 2,000 pairs of the sandals in the regions of Maharashtra and Karnataka under a deal with two state-backed bodies, blending local Indian craftsmanship with Italian technology and know-how.
“We’ll mix the original manufacturer’s standard capabilities with our manufacturing techniques,” Bertelli, who is chief marketing officer and head of corporate social responsibility, told Reuters in an interview. The collection will go on sale in February 2026 across 40 Prada stores worldwide and online, the company said. Prada faced criticism six months ago after showing sandals resembling 12th-century Indian footwear, known as Kolhapuri chappals, at a Milan show. Photos went viral, prompting outrage from Indian artisans and politicians. Prada later admitted its design drew from ancient Indian styles and began talks with artisan groups for collaboration.
It has now signed an agreement with Sant Rohidas Leather Industries and Charmakar Development Corporation (LIDCOM) and Dr Babu Jagjivan Ram Leather Industries Development Corporation (LIDKAR), which promote India’s leather heritage. “We want to be a multiplier of awareness for these chappals,” said Bertelli, who is the eldest son of Prada founders Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli.
A three-year partnership, whose details are still being finalised, will be set up to train local artisans. The initiative will include training programmes in India and opportunities to spend short periods at Prada’s Academy in Italy.
Chappals originated in Maharashtra and Karnataka and are handcrafted by people from marginalised communities. Artisans hope the collaboration will raise incomes, attract younger generations to the trade and preserve heritage threatened by cheap imitations and declining demand.
“Once Prada endorses this craft as a luxury product, definitely the domino effect will work and result in increasing demand for the craft,” said Prerna Deshbhratar, LIDCOM managing director. Bertelli said the project and training programme would cost “several million euros”, adding that artisans would be fairly remunerated.
Bertelli said Prada, which opened its first beauty store in Delhi this year, has no plans for new retail clothing shops next year or factories in India. “We have not planned yet any store openings in India, but it’s something that we are strongly taking into consideration,” he said, adding that this could come in three to five years.
The luxury goods market in India was valued at around $7 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach about $30 billion by 2030, according to Deloitte, as economic growth accelerates to 7% this year and disposable income among the middle and upper classes rises. The market, however, is dwarfed by China, which generated about 350 billion yuan ($49.56 billion) in value in 2024, according to Bain.
Most global brands have entered India through partnerships with large conglomerates like Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance group and Kumar Mangalam Birla’s Aditya Birla Group. Bertelli said that Prada would prefer to enter the country on its own, even if it took longer, describing India as “the real potential new market.”
London-based Save Your Wardrobe (SYW) and France’s Fairly Made are joining forces to deliver what they say will be “Europe’s most advanced end-to-end circularity infrastructure”.
Save Your Wardrobe
SYW operates an AI-powered wardrobe management app while Fairly Made has developed a solution for measuring the environmental impact of products. Now they’ve announced a “strategic partnership designed to help brands meet Europe’s next generation of sustainability expectations”.
They said that “as new regulations reshape how products are designed, managed, and cared for- from eco-design and digital product passports to France’s Bonus Réparation and evolving EPR requirements, brands need a connected view of impact across the full lifecycle. This partnership brings together two complementary strengths that enable exactly that”.
As part of the link-up, SYW “plans to deliver the infrastructure powering aftersales excellence, including diagnostics, repairability scoring, automation, and nationwide repair operations”. Meanwhile, Fairly Made will support this with “upstream capabilities across supply-chain traceability, multi-criteria impact measurement, and digital product passport readiness”.
The plan is that they will offer enterprise brands a “360° circularity solution that supports eco-design, compliance, and measurable lifecycle extension”.
They said their goal is to help brands “move toward a future where circularity is not an ambition, but a connected, measurable, and scalable reality”.
Private equity firm TPG Inc. is considering options for APM Monaco, including a possible stake sale or an initial public offering of the jeweler, according to people familiar with the matter.
APM Monaco
TPG is working with an adviser and may start a dual-track process early next year, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information. The US investment firm is aiming to fetch a valuation of at least $2 billion for the company in a deal, one of the people said.
Deliberations are preliminary and TPG might decide to keep the asset for longer, the people added.
A representative for TPG declined to comment.
A TPG-led consortium acquired a 30% stake in APM Monaco in 2019, and in 2021 documents were submitted for a Hong Kong IPO that never materialized. The following year, the group started sounding out potential interest in its stake, Bloomberg News reported, though TPG said at the time it didn’t plan to sell.
European private equity firm Trail and China Synergy, an investment firm backed by TPG and China international Capital Corp., were also part of the investor group that bought the stake in APM Monaco six years ago.
TPG had $286 billion in assets under management as of the end of September. The US buyout firm invested in APM Monaco through its Asia-focused private equity platform.
APM operates about 500 jewelry stores globally, according to its website.
Politics8 years ago