IMPORTANT EU SHIPPING UPDATE: EU shipping will temporarily pause from 3pm UK time TODAY, Monday 10 August 2026. If you're in the EU and would like to place an order before the pause, please order before 3pm.
If you're one of our lovely Rebel Romance customers in the EU, unfortunately we have some rather rubbish news to share.
From 3pm today, Monday 10 August 2026, we're temporarily switching off shipping to EU countries.
First and most importantly, we absolutely do not want to stop shipping to the EU.
We love our EU customers and stockists, and this isn't us deciding that sending parcels to Europe is too much hassle. New EU packaging regulations mean we need to make sure Rebel Romance is correctly registered and compliant before we continue sending orders into each EU country.
We've been trying to understand exactly what these changes mean for a tiny UK business like ours, and it has become clear that this isn't something we can safely figure out while continuing to ship.
So, from 3pm today, we're temporarily pressing pause.
What is PPWR?
PPWR stands for the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation.
It is new EU legislation designed to reduce packaging waste, improve recycling and make businesses more responsible for the packaging they place onto the market.
The PPWR generally starts applying from 12 August 2026, which is why we're having to make this decision now.
And, for the record, we're completely on board with the idea of reducing unnecessary packaging and waste.
We're a slow fashion business. We produce our clothing in relatively small quantities, work with ethical manufacturers and actively try to move away from the throwaway mentality that has become such a huge problem within the fashion industry.
The problem isn't wanting to be environmentally responsible.
The problem for a small business like Rebel Romance is just how much administration is involved in making sure we're doing everything correctly.
Why can't we just register for PPWR once?
This is where things get complicated.
There are 27 EU Member States, but PPWR doesn't mean we can simply complete one registration that automatically covers Rebel Romance for selling into all 27 countries.
The PPWR provides for national producer registers, and producers can be required to register in each Member State where they make packaging or packaged products available for the first time.
So although PPWR itself is one EU regulation, the practical registration and compliance process isn't necessarily one single EU wide job.
For us, that potentially means investigating requirements across 27 different countries and national systems.
We need to understand where we're required to register, which organisations we need to register with, what information needs to be submitted, what reporting is required, what fees may apply and what our ongoing responsibilities will be.
So when you hear "new EU packaging regulations", it might sound like something that involves filling in a form, paying a fee and getting back to packing dungarees.
Unfortunately, it isn't quite that simple.
Why can't Rebel Romance just do all 27 countries?
Because we're a tiny business.
We don't have an international compliance department.
We don't have a legal team sitting in an office somewhere.
We don't have a team of people whose full time job is working through legislation in 27 different countries.
We're a small independent business, and the same people designing your clothes, answering your emails, creating content, ordering stock and running the website are also the people who now have to work out how to comply with all of this.
Registering and maintaining compliance across potentially 27 different national systems is not a small task.
It takes time. It takes money. It takes research. And, most importantly, we need to make sure we're getting it right.
We cannot realistically register everywhere at once.
And we don't want to continue shipping into countries and simply hope that we've understood the rules correctly, particularly when getting it wrong could potentially result in penalties for our little business.
So we're doing what we think is the responsible thing.
We're temporarily stopping EU shipping while we work through the requirements properly.
Why does this feel like another hurdle for small businesses?
This is probably the most frustrating part.
We completely understand why legislation around packaging and waste is needed.
The enormous growth of ultra fast fashion and global marketplaces sending huge volumes of products and packaging around the world has created very real environmental problems.
But regulations intended to tackle those problems still have to be navigated by businesses at the completely opposite end of the scale.
Rebel Romance isn't SHEIN or Temu.
We're not sending millions of parcels around the world.
We're a tiny UK independent business making small runs of colourful, size inclusive clothing and working with other independent artists and businesses.
Yet we still have to find the time and money to understand the regulations that apply to us.
For an enormous multinational company, the cost and administration of international compliance can be spread across millions of orders and handled by dedicated teams.
For a small independent business, it can represent a huge amount of work.
That doesn't mean small businesses shouldn't have environmental responsibilities. Of course we should.
But it does mean that "just comply with the new rules" can be an enormous undertaking when you're a tiny business.
Are we stopping EU shipping permanently?
NO! ❤️
Please don't panic.
We are absolutely not abandoning our EU customers or stockists.
Instead of trying to tackle all 27 countries simultaneously, we're going to work through everything country by country.
Our first priorities will be Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands, and we'll be working to get shipping switched back on to those countries as soon as we're confident that we have everything properly in place.
After that, we'll continue working through other EU countries and assessing what we need to do to reopen each one.
This may mean that some countries become available again sooner than others.
We'd much rather take our time, understand our responsibilities and do everything properly than rush through it and potentially get something wrong.
Want to order before EU shipping pauses?
If you're in the EU and you've been eyeing up a pair of dungarees, a dress, some fabulous accessories or something else from our weird and wonderful little shop, please place your order before 3pm UK time TODAY, Monday 10 August 2026.
At 3pm today, we will temporarily switch off EU shipping while we begin working through the new requirements.
We know this gives you very little notice, and we're genuinely sorry.
We wanted to keep shipping available for as long as we safely could rather than closing it earlier than necessary.
If you've already placed an order with us, please don't worry. We're working hard to get outstanding EU orders processed and dispatched before the pause.
This isn't goodbye, EU friends 💖
Brexit already made selling from the UK into Europe considerably more complicated for small businesses, and now we've got another international requirement to get our heads around.
But we're going to work through it.
We just need a little time.
To every EU customer who has bought a pair of our dungarees, worn one of our dresses, recommended us to a friend, tagged us in an outfit or supported our little business from across the Channel, thank you.
And to our wonderful EU independent stockists who have taken a chance on Rebel Romance and brought our clothes into their shops, thank you too.
We're really sorry that we have to temporarily put this barrier between you and us.
Hopefully, it won't be for too long.
This isn't goodbye.
It's just a slightly bureaucratic BRB, EU. 🇪🇺💖
Love,
Amy & the Rebel Romance Team