Shein opens offices in Barcelona
The Chinese multinational fast fashion company is increasing its presence in the Spanish market despite EU pressure.
BarcelonaChinese fashion giant Shein will open offices in Barcelona, where it will house its marketing team for the Spanish market, despite the investigations opened by the European Commission against the company and the growing tariff pressure. The presence in the Catalan capital represents "a strategic step" for the multinational of fast fashion, according to the director of branding Shein's Borde Hiransomboon, this Thursday at the presentation of the delegation.
The new offices are in addition to those the group already has in Madrid. According to Alessandra Bonito Oliva, the opening in Barcelona was "a very natural and simple choice." "Catalonia is the autonomous community that contributes the most to the fashion industry; we want to be part of this very important ecosystem," added Bonito, who explained that Spain is one of the company's three main markets in the European Union.
The Barcelona office will have a staff of eight people – there are about ten in Madrid. The small number of employees is due to two reasons. The first is that, unlike other competitors, Shein only sells online and lacks a network of stores. The second is that it is a company with a centralized structure, since design and production are concentrated in China.
The company sells its own brands and produces clothing with "a production-on-demand model," Bonito indicated. According to this system, Shein puts about 100 or 200 units of each new product on sale and, "depending on the response" from customers on its platform, increases production, he explained. In addition, Shein also operates as marketplace online for a thousand external brands. In 2024, the group had a turnover of approximately $38 billion worldwide.
In Brussels' crosshairs
The brand has been the subject of controversy in recent months and is under scrutiny from the European Commission, which has opened an investigation into the possible sale of illegal products, including child sex dolls. Brussels thus followed in the footsteps of the French government, which opened an investigation into the Chinese company for the same reason on the very day it opened its first physical store in a Paris department store. The French administration increased controls on packages, primarily from China, that the company sends to French customers and found, according to the French government, that a substantial number violated regulations for various reasons, from the use of prohibited ingredients in makeup to dangerous toys and counterfeit clothing. According to consumer protection associations in Belgium, 70% of the products Shein sells in Europe violate regulations in some way.
Along the same lines, the rest of the EU countries – including Spain – have also increased border controls regarding the products of Shein and its direct competitor, Temu. Furthermore, the governments of the 27 member states agreed apply a tariff of 3 euros The measure applies to packages from third countries valued at less than €150, which were previously exempt. The aim is primarily to limit the presence of Chinese fast-fashion companies and, furthermore, to offset the millions of euros in aid they receive from the Chinese government.