2023-05-20 16:43:07
To speak his name is to unleash storms. It also marks the generation gap. There are those who know – “Of course! Even my 5 year old little sister! – and there are the others, the “old”, those who do not have the Internet, those who have never set foot in H & M, and those, the poor, who have never experienced the pleasure , shopping excitement.
Well, since the weekend of May 8, even meditating hermits know what we’re talking about. Four days of pop-up store rue des Archives in the Marais attracted absolutely all the journalists, vox pops, images of the endless queue – more than two hours of waiting on Saturday! –, wide shots of the store, tight shots of the site where you can buy everything… In short, a terrific ad for Shein, this formidable Chinese who intoxicates our children with shopping.
Its prices are a provocation and, after all these reports, well, everyone knows about it: dresses, blouses and pants between 5 and 15 euros, glasses, jeans, bags, decorative objects… all made in China under inevitably unsustainable conditions.
A stone’s throw from the BHV, the department store for bobos, there were mostly young broke people who were calmly patient, but also their mothers and grandmothers, some who had come from the provinces to take advantage of the windfall. They watched the exit, with the pretty Shein bags, white edged in black, like Chanel.
Who are we to judge?
If you give up hanging around, it’s fifteen days of waiting for the delivery of an order placed on the Internet. And the risk of having to send everything back because it’s not the right size. The return coupon (free) is already in the package. But watching on TikTok is like tailor-made. They unpack and get carried away: it looks like Zara! Five times cheaper. But how do they do it? Easy: they exploit the poor who work non-stop for a pittance. Shame on those who encourage this system of super-fast fashion.
But who are we to judge? Remember the beginnings of Zara in 1990: how many linen, wool, viscose, cotton, polyester blend jackets copied from Armani for a tenth of the price? Interviewed then, the maestro answered, placidly, that “copying is the ransom of success”.
Then there was the Rana Plaza affair and its more than 1,000 deaths
In 1998, when H & M arrived, it was even more joyful. His first store on rue de Rivoli sparked riots. An addiction has set in. We, the eldest, happily voraciously set the example for these “incredibly” cheap pretty pieces. For years no one thought of criticizing. It was finally the possibility for the most modest to dress really fashionable.
Then there was the Rana Plaza affair and its more than 1,000 deaths, which brought everyone face to face with their responsibilities. Until this disastrous year 2013, we certainly mentioned – a little – human overexploitation and chemical pollution, but we were more offended by the “scandal” of counterfeit best-sellers from the big brands. Which sued. For form.
In short, a question of consumer ethics, we were hiding behind our little finger. So today, our cupboards are overflowing, we are less addicted. As for young people who have not experienced this carefree explosion of shopping, is there not an injustice in wanting to make their impulses feel guilty? Do as I say, not as I did.
How to get out of this contradiction? No need to try to convince them not to buy anymore. Maybe educate them in vintage. At Free’p’Star and other Kilo Shops, leather handbags are 5 or 10 euros; the blouses at 10-15 euros are in silk. And the jeans at 15-20 euros are real collectible Levi’s. A pedagogy of scarcity. The opposite of Shein. Good luck
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#high #price #cheap