Welcome in, today is Wednesday, September ninth, and we begin in Beijing, where WWD reports China is demanding France halt its new law on ultra-fast fashion. China's Commerce Ministry has called on France to immediately stop applying the measure, days after it took effect. Spokeswoman Huang Ling told a news conference Thursday the law harms Chinese businesses and French consumers, described it as a discriminatory step taken under the guise of environmental protection, and said Beijing suspects it breaches World Trade Organization rules. She warned China would take necessary measures if France goes its own way. Per that account, the law penalizes each item by between twenty-five cents and twelve euros, a range that rises to two euros twenty and twenty euros per item in twenty thirty, and its definition of ultra-fast fashion spares European sellers such as Zara and H and M. That lifts a domestic French retail rule into a bilateral trade dispute, and makes it an early test of how far European markets can regulate low-price online retail. Industry reaction leans toward reading the measure more broadly than its named targets: because the fee is assessed per product and keyed to how fast a seller adds new references, some argue assortment velocity becomes a cost variable at the border. Also today, sourcing. Writing in WWD's Sourcing Journal, Jasmin Malik Chua argues Vietnam's new forced-labor import ban could reshape sourcing through the country. The argument is that Hanoi's supply-chain tracing requirements were forged in response to Washington's Section three-oh-one tariffs, and that they raise compliance stakes for any company sourcing through Vietnam. That read is the author's, and the scope and enforcement timeline are not yet confirmed. The cost of that documentation would sit with brands, which is why the detail matters before the next sourcing cycle. Compliance-side observers add a note of scepticism. Several flag that the import prohibition did not appear in the publicly circulated consultation drafts and surfaced only in the final decree, which some read as a sign the measure tracks the U.S. tariff proceeding more than domestic policy, and a recurring question in that camp is how vigorously the tracing will be enforced. Separately, Nike. Chief executive Elliott Hill used Tuesday's annual shareholders' meeting to answer scepticism about the turnaround, telling investors progress will not, in his words, be a straight line, and that the team is building for the next decade, according to WWD. That is the expectation window wholesale partners and the wider sportswear trade will judge the company against. Industry reaction converges on an operational explanation rather than a brand controversy: the earlier retreat from wholesale accounts in favour of direct-to-consumer is widely framed as having handed shelf space and mindshare to challenger running brands, with the open question being whether re-investing in retail partnerships can win that ground back. A quieter consumer-side signal in the same reaction is eroding perceived quality for price, with some longtime buyers described as switching on materials and comfort rather than fashion. To H and M. The retailer has named Aneta Pokucinska managing director and general manager for the United States, WWD reports. The same announcement said Elie Saab will be its next designer collaboration. Two disclosures in one release put the group's American leadership and its brand-elevation calendar on the same watch list for anyone tracking positioning, though that reporting does not detail a start date or when the collaboration arrives. Now, a few more headlines moving the trade today. Total UK footfall fell one point seven percent year on year in August, an improvement on July's two point one percent decline, according to British Retail Consortium figures reported by Drapers. Drapers also reports former Gucci creative director Sabato de Sarno has taken over the creative helm of Chinese luxury brand Icicle. And finally, outdoor brands lead Kearney's sixth annual fashion circularity index, which scores two hundred forty-one brands across nine categories, from sustainable design materials to secondhand and rental models, per Luxury Daily.