Clothing market in France: a deceptive stability

Business

Commerce in Paris. Here is the ready-to-wear brand Rouje’s shop. Credits: FashionUnited.

Although the figures are positive, the clothing market is nonetheless unstable. This was the observation made by Yohann Petiot, director general of the Alliance du Commerce, after the announcement on Wednesday of an increase in turnover for shops in France.

In April, the clothing retailers who are members of the Retail Int. Panel recorded an increase in their shop turnover of 4.6 percent compared to April 2024. However, the period taken into account this year has one more day (26 working days) than last year (25 working days). When these calendar effects are corrected, the turnover of clothing shops for the month of April ultimately remains stable.

“This observation is a reminder of how fragile activity remains and how undynamic consumption is in a very uncertain economic and geopolitical context,” said Petiot in a statement. Liquidation announcements are multiplying with the Kaporal, Café Coton and Jennyfer brands.

In France, an unprecedented bill, known as the anti-fast fashion law, will be examined on June 2 in the Senate. It is aimed in particular at ultra-fast fashion platforms such as Shein and Temu.

Restore competitive equality

The director of the Alliance du Commerce is calling for a “strong reaction from the government”. According to him, it is urgent to restore competitive equality between market players. Referring to Chinese e-commerce sites such as Temu and Shein, he deplores the financial advantages enjoyed by non-European platforms and calls for customs controls and sanctions to be strengthened in order to ensure the safety of products for French consumers.

“Platforms that do not comply with French and European regulations must be delisted. The survival of our companies, their ability to invest, recruit and revitalise our regions depends on it,” said Petiot.

In detail, it can be seen that retailers located in commercial activity zones (ZAC) and retail parks are recording a good performance (8.9 percent of their turnover), as are city centre shops (4.3 percent).

The same is not true for shopping centres. Whether they are located in towns or on the outskirts, their turnovers fell in April, recording zero or low growth: 0.8 percent for those located in towns and plus or minus 0 percent for centres on the outskirts. Finally, outlets showed growth of 2.3 percent.

This article was translated to English using an AI tool.

Alliance du Commerce

Clothing figures

Commerce