FAST-FASHION behemoth Shein has been reported to French prosecutors after allegedly selling “sex dolls with a childlike appearance” – on its website.
The listing has sparked fury just days before its flagship Paris store opens.
The dolls, priced at around £170 (€190), were listed online with descriptions that made officials’ “blood run cold”.
Standing roughly three foot tall, the dolls appeared to depict a little girl clutching a teddy bear, with braided hair and wide-eyed expression.
The product was advertised as a “sex doll… with erotic body” and “realistic” genitalia.
France’s consumer watchdog, the Directorate General for Competition Policy, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF), said the online listing “makes it difficult to doubt the child pornography nature of the content”.
The watchdog confirmed it had referred the matter to the public prosecutor after discovering the listing.
Shein, which is headquartered in Singapore and founded in China, said the dolls were immediately removed once the company became aware of the issue.
A spokesperson said: “The products in question were immediately removed from the platform as soon as we became aware of these major shortcomings.”
The company added it has a “zero-tolerance policy towards any content or products that violate our internal policies or applicable laws.”
DGCCRF spokesperson Alice Vilcot-Dutarte told Le Parisien: “The announcements particularly shocked us. Imagine a child browsing the site, looking for a doll, randomly stumbling upon these products.”
Officials said Shein failed to implement proper screening measures to prevent minors from viewing the listings.
Vilcot-Dutarte added that Shein had already been penalised in France for a string of “deceptive business practices, false claims, and other non-compliance issues.”
The DGCCRF has now also referred the case to France’s broadcasting regulator Arcom, French media reported.
A photograph published by Le Parisien showed one of the dolls – holding a teddy bear – accompanied by an explicitly sexual caption.
The watchdog stressed that disseminating child pornography online is punishable by up to seven years in prison and a £88,000 (€100,000) fine.
Shein told the BBC it was “investigating how these listings circumvented our screening measures” and conducting a “comprehensive review to identify and remove any similar items” uploaded by third-party sellers.
A spokesperson said: “We are taking immediate corrective actions and reinforcing our internal controls to prevent this from happening again.”
Speaking with The Sun, shein has confirmed: “The products in question were immediately delisted as soon as we became aware of these serious issues.
“SHEIN maintains a zero-tolerance policy towards any content or products that violate our platform policies or applicable laws.
“We take this matter extremely seriously. Such content is completely unacceptable and goes against everything we stand for.
The scandal could not have come at a worse time for the fast-fashion empire.
Shein is set to open its first-ever permanent physical store at Paris’s historic BHV Marais department store on Wednesday – a move that has already caused uproar in the world’s fashion capital.
Founded in 1856, the BHV Marais is an iconic site opposite Paris City Hall.
The decision to host Shein has been blasted by designers and industry groups who accuse the retailer of “destroying the retail landscape.”
Suppliers in France claim Shein’s ultra-cheap model has cost more than 15,000 jobs and forced dozens of boutiques to close in the past three years.
The French Federation of Women’s Ready-to-Wear warned the brand’s dominance poses an existential threat to traditional fashion businesses.
And now, with Shein expanding its reach, critics say the timing of this scandal exposes the dark side of fast fashion’s biggest player.
The company plans to open five more permanent stores across France, including in Dijon, Grenoble, Reims, Limoges, and Angers, all managed by property group Société des Grands Magasins.
Lawmakers have also launched a political pushback.
In recent budget debates, members of parliament voted to strip tax benefits from fast-fashion companies like Shein and rival marketplace Temu, in an attempt to “correct their production and marketing methods.”
Shein’s reputation was already under heavy fire long before the scandal broke.
The firm has faced global condemnation over allegations of forced labour, modern slavery, and the environmental destruction caused by its mass-production business model.
It’s also been fined millions of euros this year alone for breaching EU regulations – including failing to obtain user consent for online cookies, misleading customers about prices, and failing to declare plastic microfibres in its products.
In September, France’s data watchdog CNIL hit Shein with a €150 million £132 million (€150 million) fine for privacy violations.
The company is challenging the penalty, calling it “wholly disproportionate” and “politically motivated”.
Beyond regulatory scrutiny, Shein has also been accused of exploitative labour practices inside its Chinese supply chain.
A viral YouTube investigation by documentarian Cinthia Lin revealed factory workers walking 30,000 steps a day and working into the early hours of the morning to meet “crushing” production targets.
Lin found that workers were paid by the piece, earning mere pennies per garment, with inflated job ads exaggerating their potential wages.
Shein denied the claims but later pledged £11.3 million to improve ethical standards and working conditions across its supplier network.
The company – which sells dresses for as little as £3.49 – made an estimated £1.5 billion in sales last year, up 40 per cent, and is reportedly seeking approval to list on the London Stock Exchange at a staggering £50 billion valuation.
But as outrage grows in France, critics say the latest scandal lays bare a company that has crossed every line – from exploitation to indecency.
Vilcot-Dutarte summed up the public reaction bluntly: “The announcements particularly shocked us.”
Shein told The Sun: “We are taking immediate corrective actions and reinforcing our internal controls to prevent this from happening again.
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“We are also reiterating to all teams the importance of rigorous listing checks and preventive measures to ensure full compliance with our policies and applicable laws.”
And with prosecutors now investigating, Shein’s slick global expansion could face its biggest reckoning yet.