A former Interior Minister of Emmanuel Macron will advise the Chinese ready-to-wear giant Shein. Last month, the group announced the appointment of Christophe Castaner, as well as that of Nicole Guedj, short-lived Secretary of State in the early 2000s, within a strategic regional committee, in charge of social and environmental responsibility issues. .
The company, founded in China, whose head office is in Singapore, is one of the standard bearers of ultra fast fashion, very low-cost clothing. It is criticized for the working conditions in its factories and its impact on the environment. These appointments caused a lot of reaction, especially that of Christophe Castaner.
Christophe Castaner, faithful among the faithful of Emmanuel Macron in 2017, withdrew from political life after his failure in the 2022 legislative elections to go into the private sector. Social and environmental responsibility is not really his area of expertise, he who also defended textiles made in France on TV in 2021.”We claim a form of sovereigntysaid Christophe Castaner, then leader of the marching deputies in the Assembly, at the time. It is not the responsibility of public buyers who are required by the markets to finance made in France. But it must be our priority“.
On its website, the Chinese company offers clothing at very low prices. In just a few clicks you can find slippers for three euros, leggings for 4.99 euros, all shipped by plane. Unfair competition for French ready-to-wear, according to Anne-Cécile Violland, Horizons MP who introduced the law against fast fashion passed in March 2024 in the Assembly. The elected official fears that Christophe Castaner and former Secretary of State Nicole Guedj will serve as lobbyists for Shein. “It is such a juggernaut that we can actually have some fears about the way in which, in particular, the networks of Mr. Castaner or Mrs. Guedj will be used“, alerts the MP.
The timetable for these appointments raises questions for LR deputy Antoine Vermorel, because the law against fast fashion is now expected in the Senate at the start of the year for final adoption.
“Since it was adopted in the National Assembly, there have been many lobbyists who have been involved in unraveling this law.”
Antoine Vermorel, LR deputyon franceinfo
“It is a law which is fundamental because we must understand that after having delocalized the production of clothing in the 80s in Asia, today, we are in the process of delocalizing the marketing of clothing, and therefore it is the closure of all our local businesses“, denounces Antoine Vermorel.
At Shein, we assure that there is no correlation between these appointments and the examination of this anti-fast fashion law.
Franceinfo contacted Christophe Castaner and former Secretary of State Nicole Guedj, but neither wished to react. For his part, Christophe Castaner assures in an interview with The Tribune Sunday that he wasn’t nominated just for his network. “People think I’m stupid enough to only have an address book.“, annoys the former minister, who already chairs the Supervisory Board of the Grand Maritime Port of Marseille and the motorway and tunnel companies of Mont-Blanc and Fréjus.
“On the one hand, we criticize politicians for only doing that and on the other we cry foul when they go into the private sector.”
A player in the commerce sectoron franceinfo
How much will he and Nicole Guedj be paid? No response from Shein. A company spokesperson explains these appointments solely because of the expertise of the two former politicians. “Think they have any lobbying power on anything, it’s not serious“, says a former minister who moved to the private sector.
These collaborations of former political leaders with the private sector are not new. And even with Chinese companies. Former socialist minister Jean-Marie Le Guen is currently at Huawei, for example. He is a member of the board of directors of the French subsidiary of the Chinese telecoms giant. He succeeds another minister, Jean-Louis Borloo. But in the case of Shein, Christophe Castaner and Nicole Guedj are joining a controversial company, targeted by accusations of unfair competition with French ready-to-wear, a suffering sector.
So why are they going there? “There is an element of adrenaline. It’s back in the lions’ den“, analyzes Guillaume Courty, lobbying specialist and political science teacher in Lille. It’s certainly part of the challenge that appeals to them. It could scare others, continuing to be when they know full well that the greatest hours of their career are behind them“. In exchange, this brings Shein “fame“. According to this lobbies specialist, these recruitments of former political leaders are in a way spoils of war. This helps to give credibility to Shein as a company in France, since the group is accepted by local elites.
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