The advertisement has since been removed, but until Tuesday, hyper-realistic dolls resembling young girls were being sold as sex toys on the Chinese fast-fashion platform Shein. While the doll was clothed in the photograph, the product description left no room for doubt: "Ideal doll for lonely men" and "male masturbation toy with erotic body, vagina, and anus." The discovery has sparked outrage in France—where the law prohibits the sale of pedophilic sex toys—and the government has threatened to ban Shein's online platform in France. "Shein has crossed the line. These horrific objects are illegal," said Economy Minister Roland Lescure in an interview on BFMTV. "If this type of behavior is repeated, I will request that access to the Shein platform be banned from the French market," he warned. The sale of the dolls, priced at €186.94, was discovered on Monday by the French government's consumer protection agency, but it is unknown how long they had been available.

In the face of (so far frustrated) attempts by Brussels and countries like France to curb the growth of the Chinese fast fashion giant, Shein is striking back. The Asian brand has surprised everyone by announcing that it will open its first permanent physical store in early November: it will be in Paris, on the sixth floor of the BHV department store, located in the city center. Subsequently, it will open five more stores in France, according to the Asian giant in a statement, in the Galeries Lafayette – usually focused on luxury fashion – in Dijon, Grenoble, Reims, Limoges and Angers.

Cayetana and her mother, Susana, have been queuing since half past five in the morning. They are not waiting for the star of the latest Netflix series or their favourite music band. They have been standing for hours in a line of dozens of people at Portal de l'Àngel because their online store of choice is finally opening a physical shop. It will be there for the next ten days. Shein, the Chinese fast fashion giant, landed this Thursday in Barcelona with a pop-up store that will be open until July 10 and that has generated great expectations after the the same strategy drew huge crowds a few weeks ago in Madrid.