Shein and Pimkie Join Forces to Enhance E-commerce with Collaborative Efforts

Pimkie is looking to Shein for its lifeline. The French young fashion company has announced an alliance with the Chinese platform Shein, with which it will not only market its collections, but also manufacture, according to Le Monde. France has been one of the most active countries against Shein’s business model, pushing for the so-called anti-Shein law.

The goal is to reach €100 million in revenues with Shein by 2028, up to a third of Pimkie’s current business, said CEO Salih Halassi during a press conference.

This is the first French company to partner with Shein. It does so, however, at a delicate moment. In June, the French Senate approved by a majority of 337 votes in favor and one against, the media-worthy anti-Shein law, with the aim of regulating the business of large foreign ultra-fast fashion operators in the country and protecting national companies.

Halassi, for its part, has remarked that the company has recorded annual losses of €40 million. In addition, he has justified the decision by assuring that Pimkie makes less than 5% of its sales in the online channel, which needs to be strengthened. “A network of stores cannot survive without a strong online network,“ he added.

Pimkie will gain access to the network of subcontractors with which Shein works with this alliance

With this alliance, Pimkie will gain access to the network of subcontractors that Shein works with, so that it can manufacture the collections that will be sold on the platform, expanding the offer and offering even lower prices than those charged in the physical store.

“We anticipate returning to break-even in 2026,“ celebrated Halassi, who will benefit from the 160 markets in which Shein has a presence in Europe, with which it aims to raise digital turnover by up to 30% in three years.

In 2023, Pimkie changed hands, until then owned by the Mulliez family, which owns Auchan, Decathlon and Leroy Merlin. The French subsidiary of Lee Cooper and textile manufacturers Kindy and Ibisler Tekstil created the Pimkinvest consortium with which they completed the purchase of the fashion retail company.

A year later, however, the company filed for bankruptcy protection after 55 years in business. Pimkie, which has closed its entire commercial network in Spain, had been making losses since 2015.

Pimkie aims to reach a turnover of 150 million euros in 2025 and aspires to 300 million euros in 2028, going from seven million generated with online sales to almost 100 million. According to the latest published data, Pimkie posted sales of €216 million in 2022, falling to €198 million in 2023.