Chinese e-commerce giants Shein and Temu have grown into billion-dollar businesses by satisfying Gen Z’s love for cheap dupes… but their low prices have come at a high cost.
Driving the news: As both companies rake in record profits, they’re continuing to brazenly rip off designs from other brands. This is despite a growing number of copyright lawsuits targeting Shein and Temu, brought by independent artists and retailers like Uniqlo and H&M.
- Helene Myhre, a Norwegian influencer with more than a million followers, recently posted a video comparing her hand-knit wool sweater with a polyester Shein copy.
Why it matters: Fast fashion retailers like Shein can copy, produce, and sell inventory at unthinkable speeds and volumes. Even if they’re caught, copyright laws have such weak protections for clothing that designers are lucky to even get the knock-off items taken down.
Bottom line: But if you ask Shein, it’s Temu that’s taken things too far. Shein is suing Temu for stealing its designs and images to keep prices low, which is pretty funny coming from the company that used photos of Myhre wearing her sweater to list their knock-off product.—LA