The fine was imposed on Infinite Styles Services Co Limited, a Dublin-based company that operates Shein’s website in Europe, at the end of a “greenwashing” investigation that the Italian watchdog had opened in September.

AGCM said the environmental sustainability and social responsibility claims promoted on Shein’s website “were sometimes vague, generic, and/or overly emphatic, and in other cases omitted and misleading”.

The Italian authority said its assessment was influenced by an “increased duty of care” falling on Shein, “because it operates in (the) highly polluting sector and with highly polluting methods” of fast and super-fast fashion.

Reuters has contacted the company for a comment.

When the investigation was launched last year, the company said it was “ready to cooperate openly with relevant Italian authorities, providing the necessary support and information to address any inquiries”.