French Parliament votes to 'limit excesses' of low-cost fast fashion

The French Parliament on Thursday backed a series of measures making low-cost fast fashion, especially from Chinese mass producers, less attractive to buyers.

The vote makes France the first country in the world "legislating to limit the excesses of ultra-fast fashion", said Christophe Bechu, minister for ecological transition.

Key measures include a ban on advertising for the cheapest textiles, and an environmental charge slapped on low-cost items.

The French clothes market has been flooded with cheap imported clothes, while several homegrown brands have declared bankruptcy.

But the main arguments put forward by Horizons -- the party allied to President Emmanuel Macron submitting the draft law were environmental.

She singled out Chinese company Shein and its "7,200 new clothing items per day" as a prime example of intensive fashion production.

France will apply criteria such as volumes of clothes produced and turnover speed of new collections in determining what constitutes fast fashion, according to the law.

Once the law comes into force  which still requires a vote in the Senate precise criteria will be published in a decree.