##Shein penalised month after €40m fine from French regulator in July

The Italian authorities have fined Shein €1m (£870,000) for making “misleading or omissive” environmental claims about its products, the second time in as many months the Chinese fashion retailer has been targeted by European regulators.

Environmental sustainability and social responsibility messages on Shein’s website were in some cases “vague, generic, and/or overly emphatic” and in others were “misleading or omissive”, said Italy’s competition authority, AGCM.

It is the latest criticism to hit the fast fashion behemoth, where shoppers can pick up polyester party dresses for as little as £1.60, [leading to claims](https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2022/apr/10/shein-the-unacceptable-face-of-throwaway-fast-fashion) it is helping to cause a [plastic pollution crisis](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/aug/03/world-in-15tn-plastics-crisis-hitting-health-from-infancy-to-old-age-report-warns) through the oversupply of cheap synthetic clothes.

“Through its website … and other promotional and/or informational online pages, the company disseminated environmental claims within the sections #SHEINTHEKNOW, evoluSHEIN, and Social Responsibility that were, in some instances, vague, generic, and/or overly emphatic, and in others, misleading or omissive.”

Shein’s claims about product circularity and recycling “were found to be either false or at least confusing”, AGCM said, while its claims that products from its “evoluSHEIN by Design” collection were more sustainable were “overstated”.

“Moreover, these claims may lead consumers to believe not only that the evoluSHEIN by Design collection is made solely from ‘sustainable’ materials, but also that its products are fully recyclable – a statement which, given the fibres used and current recycling systems, does not reflect reality,” the regulator added.

Chinese fast fashion retailer Shein fined €1m in Italy for misleading environmental claims about products