Welcome in, today is Thursday, August thirteenth, and we begin in France, where FashionUnited reports the anti fast fashion law now has a final, enacted text. France's anti fast fashion law now has a final text, and its reach runs well past the ultra fast players it was written to target. Per FashionUnited, law number two thousand twenty six, six hundred two was enacted on July eighth and published in the Official Journal on July ninth. Start with article two. That account states manufacturing locations for new clothing, footwear and household linen sold online to consumers must be shown clearly and legibly, in characters the same size as the price indication and placed near it, an obligation that is not limited to companies falling under ultra fast fashion. Article five requires any producer not established in France but subject to extended producer responsibility to designate a representative in the country by written mandate. Article four widens information sharing between risk prevention agents, customs and the DGCCRF, and lets the DGCCRF exchange documents with the data protection authority, the CNIL. The same reporting adds that the sector's eco organisation, Refashion, may use automated systems to collect publicly accessible data from online sales sites and platforms, even where their terms of use oppose it, to verify EPR compliance and the contributions owed. Article three removes the tax reduction under article two hundred thirty eight bis for donations of ultra fast fashion products. On timing, the textile penalty takes effect September first, with maximum amounts rising in stages through two thousand thirty. The advertising ban follows on January first, two thousand twenty seven. The criteria defining an ultra fast fashion player, a high count of new references and a low incentive to repair, still await a decree in the Council of State, so the perimeter is drawn but not yet measured. Also today, the market is putting a price on that same model. Following our earlier report on Shein's cut valuation target for its Hong Kong listing, The Business of Fashion reports that five investors who attended presentations or reviewed recent financial statements, ahead of an offering expected as early as August nineteenth, said they are not convinced the company can return to the growth rates that valued it at nearly one hundred billion dollars in two thousand twenty two. One said the future is quite challenging, and that Shein at its core is still a supply chain company. Another described an increasingly mature e-commerce business. A third put fair value at a single digit price to earnings ratio, closer to PDD Holdings. Per the same reporting, revenue rose forty one point one percent in two thousand twenty three and twenty point seven percent in two thousand twenty four, and the research firm Coresight expects growth of around two percent this year, with the European Union's July fees on e-commerce parcels compounding the loss of duty free access in the United States. Morgan Stanley, a sponsor on the deal alongside Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, estimated a fair value range of thirty nine to fifty two billion dollars, or eighteen to twenty four times projected two thousand twenty seven earnings, benchmarked against Inditex and H and M. That reporting also notes annual active customers reached two hundred seventy three million, up from two hundred thirty million, while purchase frequency held flat at roughly four orders a year. That last figure is the one peers get measured against, whatever the listing prices at. Separately, Samsonite Group is acquiring BÉIS. According to the company's own announcement, dated August twelfth, the deal adds what it describes as a fast growing, digitally native lifestyle brand with a highly engaged consumer following, and BÉIS founder Shay Mitchell will remain alongside the existing management team, led by Adeela Hussain Johnson, to continue operating the brand after close. What a luggage incumbent is buying here is a direct consumer relationship and an e-commerce capability, not manufacturing. Deal watchers lean skeptical of the fast growing framing, with several in the trade putting the purchase price near one times annual revenue and reading the brand's sales as roughly flat against a couple of years ago. A recurring concern in the channel points to the acquirer's track record with earlier online luggage purchases. A counter view holds that the deeper balance sheet is the chance to fix chronic stock outs and broaden the core range. Now, a few more headlines moving the trade today. WWD's read on footwear earnings season so far is that a new fashion cycle is building buzz for footwear, but could weigh on sneaker sales. And finally, WWD reports Alo is going online first in China with a Tmall exclusive launch, after opening events booking on WeChat Mini Program and naming Aespa's Ningning brand ambassador.