![\"Pimkie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/08dd.jpg\")
Pimkie has partnered with Shein to boost its online sales – Pimkie<\/p>\n
In terms of designers, Shein has said it will help Mathilde Lhomme set up and grow her Overblush label. \u201cIt\u2019s a truly significant opportunity for me. I\u2019m really very proud to be the first young French designer to join the platform. I\u2019ve started working with [Shein\u2019s staff] and I was able to travel to China to choose my fabrics,\u201d said Lhomme. She added that she is setting up her own team, while Shein is supporting her in manufacturing and distribution. Lhomme seems an obvious choice for Shein. She was one of the first designers to be talent-spotted through the SheinX programme in 2021, and her joining the new programme is a logical outcome.<\/p>\n
Instead, the collaboration between Shein and Pimkie<\/a> is like a thunderbolt striking the French fashion retail landscape. By the end of the year, Pimkie products will be available on Shein\u2019s marketplace, as Pimkie has decided to partner with Shein to grow its online business.<\/p>\n Pimkie products on sale in 160 markets<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m delighted to announce that Pimkie will soon be online on the Shein website,\u201d said Salih Halassi, CEO of the French fashion retailer he acquired in early 2023, speaking to the media on Tuesday.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are turning the business around, and we expect to balance the books in 2026, when our EBITDA will have gone from minus \u20ac40 million to zero euro. But e-tail is a grey area for us, accounting for less than 5% of revenue. I believe a physical retailer cannot survive without a robust online business. Creating a joint venture with Shein to develop a strong digital presence means committing to the company\u2019s long-term success. We will have access to 160 markets, to on-demand manufacturing solutions and to a\u00a0supply chain\u00a0that will enable our digital business to account for a 30% revenue share in three years,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Results-wise, Pimkie is currently forecasting a revenue of \u20ac150 million for 2025, and is targeting \u20ac300 million in 2028. Its online business would therefore be set to grow from the \u20ac7 million it generates today to nearly \u20ac100 million. It also means that Halassi is prioritising this opportunity despite the reputational risk of associating with an e-tailer with a tarnished image, one whose practices are regularly criticised by the textile and apparel industry both in France and Europe.<\/p>\n As for Pimkie\u2019s stores, Halassi is convinced that opting for a digital partner will not change the brand\u2019s physical retail strategy.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m interested in making Pimkie a success. We must look at the future through a digital perspective, and Shein will ensure guaranteed access to the global market,\u201d said Halassi.<\/p>\n Pimkie currently operates brick-and-mortar stores only in France and in the country\u2019s overseas territories.<\/p>\n \u201cPhysical retail of any kind can thrive if it has a digital counterpart, accounting for up to 30% of the business, if you look for example at Inditex<\/a>. Pimkie has 200 stores and 750 employees. We opened 20 stores last year, and further openings are on the cards,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Issues remain: While Pimkie will keep control of intellectual property rights and handle product design internally, planning to hire about 50 new staff to manage its assortment on Shein, the French brand will be relying on the e-tailer’s on-demand manufacturing organisation, selling products that are different from its in-store range, and doing so at more aggressive prices. It will therefore have to manage two parallel manufacturing streams, at least during the first few seasons, and monitor its French customers\u2019 reactions. Hoping of course that growth rates will keep up with forecasts.<\/p>\n \u201cWith Pimkie and Salih, our goal is to achieve 190% online sales growth in the first year,\u201d said Quentin Richard, head of communications for Shein in France. Why this figure? Shein said it has run a test for nearly two years, working with some 20 brands of different sizes.<\/p>\n \u201cThese brands have benefited from our support in on-demand manufacturing services and order management, and have had access to 160 countries,\u201d said Richard.<\/p>\n \u201cIn two years, they achieved an aggregate revenue of \u20ac340 million, their online sales growing on average by 190% in the first year,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n It must be noted that the lion\u2019s share of this business has been driven by a big name in British fashion retail, Missguided<\/a>, which has partnered with Shein. Richard said that Missguided generated a revenue of \u20ac230 million in two years. In 2023, Nitin Passi, a former Missguided executive, set up a joint venture with Shein Sumwon Studios, whose flagship brand Sumwon is widely available on Shein.\u00a0<\/p>\n Shein did not wish to indicate how much it has invested to develop the Xcelerator programme, but said it is a profitable initiative, while most of the group\u2019s business interests remain focused on its eponymous brand. Pimkie’s products are set to be available on Shein by the end of the year. The Asian giant, which claims to have tens of millions of customers in Europe but did not provide any revenue data, might well announce new partners soon.\n <\/p>\n