Shein, a popular fast fashion company, steals designs from other brands.

Small businesses having their designs stolen

Shein is a fast fashion company that is known to sell clothes for very cheap. I myself have bought from Shein because of how low the prices are. However, did you know that Shein copies designs from other small businesses? Small businesses have difficulty advocating for themselves and they have to watch their designs become stolen and put at a lower price, which is honestly disrespectful. They spend many hours working diligently on the products, just for big companies like Shein to copy them.

Last year, it’s estimated that Shein’s net sales reached $48 billion dollars. Before you buy from Shein, think of all those small businesses who didn’t realize that they were helping Shein plagiarize their work and contribute to their growth and success.

POPFLEX, speaking out against Shein copying their designs

Cassey Ho is the founder and lead designer of POPFLEX and Blogilates. Her Pirouette Skort, one of her signature designs, has been copied by Shein. This happened in January 2023. She spoke about Shein copying her designs in her blogs and through social media. Shein reached out to her and their U.S. president, George Chiao wanted to speak to her personally. He assured her it would not happen again, so Cassey decided to lay off the posts. However, it happened again in June.

Shein has not only cloned POPFLEX’s design but even how they present it. For example, they have gone out of their way to make the model dress and pose exactly like POPFLEX’s models. At this point Shein isn’t even trying to hide that they are copying their designs.

On January 16, 2024, Cassey got a patent for her Pirouette skort and on her birthday too! A patent is a legal document that grants to patent holder intellectual property rights like preventing others from making, using, or selling your invention. This stops companies like Shein from replicating her Pirouette skort.

Why it's hard to fight against Shein

Even though POPFLEX was able to get a patent, many small businesses aren’t able to take legal action against Shein because of financial reasons. It’s very expensive to go into a legal battle with such a large company like Shein and many companies cannot afford it. That brings me to another reason why small businesses aren’t able to take legal action. Shein is a large and influential company with many resources.

Here are some ways you can help small businesses:

Promote them

Spread the word on social media so more people can be aware of their brand.

Post reviews

You can share your experience by posting positive reviews.

There are many small businesses out there that are still struggling to fight back against Shein. You can help them by stopping purchasing clothing from Shein. Instead, try buying from small businesses that actually hand-make their clothing and put effort into it.