Where Is Fast Fashion Now? Between accusations of greenwashing, European regulations, and a model that (still) endures

From Shein to Zara: What’s Really Changed—and What Hasn’t

In 2026, fast fashion isn’t dead, but it’s under pressure like never before.

In recent years—and with increasing intensity in recent months—the industry has entered a phase of systemic scrutiny: regulatory, media, and cultural. Yet, despite investigations, accusations of greenwashing, and new European regulations, the major players continue to grow, adapting faster than the criticism they receive.

The two faces of fast fashion: under accusation, but expanding

Brands like Shein and Temu have redefined the speed of the system, taking it to the next level: ultra-fast production, extremely low prices, and global digital distribution. Their model—often referred to as ultra-fast fashion—has attracted the attention of European authorities, particularly for issues related to transparency, product safety, and commercial practices.

At the same time, historic giants like Zara, H&M, and Primark continue to dominate retail, maintaining high volumes and competitive margins while striving to reposition themselves in terms of sustainability.

Greenwashing: From Perception to Legal Issue

In recent years, greenwashing has gone from an ethical criticism to a legal issue.

Several independent reports and investigations (including those by the Changing Markets Foundation and other European organizations) have highlighted significant discrepancies between brands’ “green” communication and the reality of the materials used.

A telling finding concerns so-called sustainable collections: large-scale analyses have shown that some “eco” lines feature a high percentage of synthetic fibers. Specifically:

Some collections labeled as sustainable contained up to 70% or more synthetic materials;
in several cases, the use of polyester was even higher than in standard collections;
only a marginal share of the garments analyzed (about 6%) included recycled synthetic materials, often derived from PET bottles (source: Changing Markets Foundation).
The critical point is structural: synthetic fibers—even when recycled—remain fossil-based and present significant limitations in terms of true circularity. Their widespread use therefore contradicts the “green” narrative promoted by brands.

This evidence has helped open investigations and strengthen regulatory pressure in Europe.

Europe: towards a strict regulation

The European Union is accelerating regulatory action, with measures that directly impact the fast fashion model:

• Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (updated): aims to limit vague or misleading environmental claims;
• Green Claims Directive (in the process of being implemented): will require companies to scientifically substantiate sustainability claims;
• Sustainable and Circular Textile Strategy: introduces requirements for durability, recyclability, and transparency;
• Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR): brands will be increasingly responsible for the end-of-life of products.

Some European countries are also considering or introducing specific measures against ultra-fast fashion, including targeted taxes and advertising restrictions.

At the EU Environment Council, Germany, France, and the Netherlands called for a coordinated European approach to address the sector’s environmental impacts, emphasizing how the ultra-low-cost, ultra-high-frequency production of clothing significantly contributes to resource consumption, emissions, and product end-of-life crises. Germany, in particular, has urged the European Commission to introduce more stringent requirements within the Ecodesign Regulation, including criteria on durability, recyclability, and recycled content, as well as strengthening extended producer responsibility for textiles. The stated goal is to correct a structural competitive distortion: according to the German position, the production of very low-cost disposable garments should no longer represent a market advantage, while online platforms and cross-border sales models should be subject to the same environmental and compliance standards applied to European manufacturers.

France: The first systematic attack on ultra-fast fashion

The turning point comes from Paris. At the end of June 2026, the French Parliament approved an unprecedented law against ultra-fast fashion, targeting platforms like Shein and Temu.

The legislation introduces:

• financial penalties per item (up to approximately €6 in 2026, gradually increasing to €10 by 2030);
• restrictions or bans on advertising and influencer marketing for these players;
• a system based on environmental impact and the logic of overproduction.

It is a historic step: for the first time, a European state directly targets the economic model of ultra-fast fashion.

However, it is also a controversial law. After years of negotiations and lobbying, the final text was scaled back and primarily affects non-European players, largely excluding large groups like Zara and H&M.

Reputation: The New Battlefield

Reputational risk has become a strategic asset. In recent years, several brands have been the subject of:

• legal actions for misleading environmental communications;
• public reporting campaigns;
• investigations into working conditions and the supply chain.

Shein, in particular, has repeatedly been at the center of controversies related to transparency, workers’ rights, and product safety. At the same time, platforms like Temu have quickly entered the radar of European authorities for similar issues.

Even brands like H&M and Zara, despite having more structured sustainability strategies, have been criticized for the gap between declared objectives and actual impact.

Zara, H&M, Mango, and Primark in recent years:

have been criticized for the gap between storytelling and actual impact
have scaled back or reformulated some “green” communications
are investing in alternative materials and traceability

But the model remains unchanged: high turnover, high volumes, competitive prices.

Fast Fashion Lawsuits, Fines, and Charges

Shein’s Paradox: Under Attack… as It Opens Stores

The Shein case perfectly encapsulates the contradictions of the system.

In November 2025, while French authorities initiated proceedings to suspend the platform due to the presence of illegal products, the brand opened its first physical space in the world in Paris.

In the meantime:

• Oltre 100 cause per copia di design
  Shein è uno dei brand più citati per violazione di proprietà intellettuale, con cause da parte di designer indipendenti e marchi come Ralph Lauren e Dr. Martens. Molti casi si chiudono con accordi economici.
• €40 million fine in France (2024–2025)
  Shein has been fined by French authorities for deceptive commercial practices, particularly the use of false discounts and manipulated prices, violating European consumer protection regulations.
• Over €22 million in new fines in France (2026)
  French authorities have imposed additional fines for:
  • lack of transparency on prices and sellers
  • violations of the right of withdrawal
  • absence of environmental information on products
• €1 million fine in Italy for greenwashing (2025)
  The Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) determined that Shein was disseminating vague or misleading environmental claims, especially in its “evoluSHEIN” line, which was presented as sustainable without adequate evidence.
• EU Investigation for Misleading Practices (2025)
  The European Commission has accused Shein of:
  • false discounts
  • manipulative countdowns
  • misleading product information
    possibly violating EU consumer law.
• BEUC Official Complaint for “Dark Patterns” (2025)
  The European consumer organization has reported Shein for using manipulative digital mechanisms designed to drive compulsive purchasing, in violation of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive.
• Over 100 Design Copying Cases
  Shein is one of the most frequently cited brands for intellectual property infringement, with lawsuits filed by independent designers and brands such as Ralph Lauren and Dr. Martens. Many cases result in settlements.

Another Shein paradox:

Shein launched a €250 million circularity fund for circular economy initiatives, while simultaneously exceeding those of Zara, H&M, and other major fashion brands. According to the “Fossil Free Fashion Scorecard 2025” analysis by environmental group Stand.earth, Shein increased its absolute emissions by over 170% in just two years. Same brand, two opposing narratives in the same timeframe.

H&M: privacy and greenwashing

• €35 million fine (Germany, 2020)
  H&M was fined by the Hamburg authority for employee privacy violations, after collecting sensitive data (including personal and family information) without consent.
  → One of the largest GDPR cases in the retail sector.
• Accusations of greenwashing (various European investigations)
  H&M has been criticized by authorities and NGOs for:
  misleading “Conscious” labels
  unverifiable environmental communications
  Some of the brand’s online tools have been modified or removed after transparency concerns.

ZARA (Inditex): accusations and disputes

• Design Copying Lawsuits
  Zara has been repeatedly accused of copying designs from independent designers and small brands, resulting in several legal disputes over time (often resolved out of court).
• Criticism over Environmental Claims
  Inditex has also been targeted by NGOs and watchdogs for environmental claims deemed ambiguous or unprovable, as part of European investigations into greenwashing.

BOOHOO: scandals and violations

• Labor Scandal and Investigations in the UK (2020–2021)
  Boohoo was implicated in a case of workers’ rights violations in its supply chain (factories in the UK with wages below the legal minimum).
  → Not a single significant fine, but a case that led to government investigations and a reputational meltdown.
• Accusations of Greenwashing
  Among brands criticized for improperly using “sustainable” claims without verifiable basis.

Temu and the platforms: the new regulatory front

Temu represents acceleration. The global marketplace model—based on extreme volumes, ultra-low prices, and hyper-fragmented supply chains—is now under scrutiny by European authorities for:

• product safety
• information transparency
• compliance with digital regulations

The French law sets a precedent: other countries are considering similar measures, while the European Commission is working on broader instruments to regulate non-EU e-commerce.

TEMU vs. SHEIN: A legal battle between the platforms

• Cross-Suit Lawsuits (USA, 2022–2023)
  Shein accused Temu of improper use of images and content
  Temu accused Shein of anti-competitive practices and supplier intimidation
  → A prime example of aggressive competition in the ultra-fast model.

Key Insight:

• The litigation is not episodic: it is systemic and multi-layered (consumer law, IP, ESG, digital).
  The main accusations focus on three areas:
  1. Greenwashing (false or vague environmental claims)
  2. Consumer manipulation (discounts, UX, dark patterns)
  3. Intellectual property (systematic design copying)
• Fine penalties are rising rapidly → a sign of a regulatory paradigm shift.

Is AI making fast fashion even faster?

The acceleration of fast fashion is no longer just a question of supply chain. It is, increasingly, a question of technological infrastructure.

In recent years, the systematic introduction of artificial intelligence has transformed the operating model of major players—particularly those in ultra-fast fashion—shifting competitive advantage from production to product generation and selection.

Artificial intelligence isn’t simply optimizing fast fashion. It’s changing its underlying operational logic, shifting the focus from the traditional creative cycle to a data-driven system, in which the product is increasingly the result of a predictive process.

The most emblematic case is that of Shein. According to industry analyses, the platform is capable of releasing up to 10,000 new designs per day, while academic studies indicate a capacity of between 2,000 and 10,000 new styles daily, with development cycles reduced to 3–7 days. These numbers do not represent an incremental evolution compared to traditional fast fashion, but a true shift in industrial scale.

This acceleration is driven by intensive use of AI for real-time trend sensing. Proprietary algorithms continuously analyze data from social media, online searches, and purchasing behavior, enabling the identification of emerging microtrends and their rapid translation into products.

The result is a radically different model from the industry’s historical one. It is no longer a linear sequence—design, production, sales—but an iterative, software-driven system:
massive generation → testing → selection → scalability.

It is a cycle that not only responds to demand, but actively helps generate it through the hypertrophy of supply.

A study by the Stanford Graduate School of Business defines this paradigm as “ultra-fresh fashion“: a system based on the extreme frequency of launches and the breadth of supply, capable not only of responding to demand, but of actively creating it. The continuous introduction of new products fuels a sense of permanent novelty that stimulates consumption, reducing the perceived life cycle of garments.

In this context, AI does not so much accelerate physical production—which remains constrained by industrial limits—as it does the speed of decision-making. Companies don’t necessarily produce faster: they decide more quickly what to produce, in what quantities, and when to scale.

This approach is further amplified by the “small batch, rapid test” model: initial micro-lots, often of just a few hundred units, are released to market and monitored in real time. Only products that perform well are rapidly scaled up. Industrial risk is reduced, while variety explodes.

The consequences are also visible on the supply side: platforms like Shein can host hundreds of thousands of items simultaneously, a density impossible to sustain without advanced automation.

Yet this efficiency creates a structural paradox. While AI promises greater precision—and therefore potentially fewer unsold items—it also contributes to intensifying the production-consumption cycle, increasing pressure on resources, supply chains, and waste management systems.

Several independent studies and analyses highlight a structural paradox. While AI can theoretically improve demand forecasting and reduce waste, in practice it tends to increase the variety and frequency of launches, fueling a more intense consumption cycle. The literature on sustainability and AI in fashion also points out that the overall environmental effects depend less on the technology itself and more on companies’ strategic use of it.

In other words, artificial intelligence isn’t simply making fast fashion faster. It’s transforming it into something else: a predictive, adaptive, and hyper-scalable system, in which creativity is subordinated to data and the product becomes a variable optimized in real time.

More than an evolution of fast fashion, it’s a reconfiguration of the relationship between data, desire, and production.

Where is Zara going?

In recent months, Zara has accelerated a transformation that marks a departure from the traditional fast fashion model, while remaining anchored to its core philosophy of speed. The direction is twofold: upgrading its positioning and deeply integrating artificial intelligence.

On the industrial and retail levels, the Inditex group has undertaken a rationalization of its physical network: fewer stores, but larger, more technologically advanced, and strategically located. The number of Zara stores has fallen below 1,500 for the first time in almost 15 years, while the average store size and experiential level of the spaces are increasing.
This evolution is accompanied by a clear attempt to elevate the brand’s perception, including through collaborations with luxury brands and a greater focus on quality and styling.

At the same time, Zara is systematically investing in artificial intelligence, but with a less visible approach than ultra-fast players like Shein. This is what the industry is increasingly calling “quiet AI”: silent integration, distributed throughout the supply chain, geared more toward operational efficiency than technological spectacle.

There are many concrete signs. On the commercial front, Inditex has stated that recent growth is also supported by the use of AI, with sales expected to grow by 2025. On the customer experience front, Zara has introduced tools such as AI-based virtual try-on, already active in dozens of markets, with millions of uses in the first few months: a technology designed not so much to accelerate desire, but to reduce purchasing uncertainty and reduce returns, one of the main hidden costs of e-commerce.

Even more significant is the application of AI in content production and marketing: Zara uses generative systems to create product images from real models, dramatically speeding up campaign times and costs.

The key point is that Zara is not chasing ultra-fast fashion on the terrain of extreme quantity or pure speed. Instead, it is building a hybrid model: less dependent on hyperproduction, more focused on precision, data, and margins.

In this sense, Zara’s “quiet AI” represents a significant evolution: not a visible acceleration of the fashion cycle, but an invisible optimization.

However, an open tension remains: even if AI is used to improve efficiency and forecasting, the ability to react in real time to demand continues to fuel a system based on rapid product rotation.
Zara is changing shape, but it isn’t abandoning the paradigm of speed: it’s simply making it more sophisticated.

The consumer: more aware, but not enough

While awareness is growing, purchasing behavior remains ambivalent.

Price, accessibility, and speed continue to prevail. Fast fashion isn’t just a production model: it’s a response to a market demand that, for now, shows no sign of abating.

Evolution or adaptation?

2026 marks a turning point:

• A European state directly taxes ultra-fast fashion
• The EU systematically investigates global platforms
• Greenwashing enters the legal scope

Yet, the system does not retreat.

Shein continues to grow. Temu expands its presence. Major European groups adapt without changing their structures.

Fast fashion is not in crisis. It is under pressure.

Companies are refining their strategies: more cautious communication, investments in alternative materials, greater attention to regulatory compliance. While the core of the model—fast production, high volumes, low prices—remains intact.

The real turning point will only come when regulation, innovation, and consumer behavior converge.

Until then, the system will continue to do what it has always done: adapt, without truly changing.