Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein is being taken to court by a number of independent designers who believe the company has copied their original designs.
The complaint was filed by three designers named Krista Petty, Larissa Martinez, and Jay Baron, in the US District Court for the Central District of California. The trio is accusing the retailer of racketeering and “egregious” copyright infringement, and alleges that the company uses a secret algorithm to identify and copy emerging trends and designs.
According to NBC News, the complaint says: “There is no Coco Chanel or Yves Saint Laurent behind the Shein empire.
“Rather, there is a mysterious tech genius, Xu Yangtian aka Chris Xu, about whom almost nothing is known. He made Shein the world’s top clothing company through high technology, not high design.”
“The brand has made billions by creating a secretive algorithm that astonishingly determines nascent fashion trends — and by coupling it with a corporate structure, including production and fulfillment schemes, that are perfectly executed to grease the wheels of the algorithm, including its unsavory and illegal aspects,” the complaint added.
One of the plaintiffs, Krista Perry, says she created an artwork that appeared on the Shein website without her permission. When she reached out to the company, she says a staff member explained that they had acquired the design from a local vendor and offered her a payment of $500 (£382.11). The following year, Perry says that Shein got in touch to ask if she would like to contribute work for a capsule collection.
In response to the allegations, a spokesperson for Shein has shared: “SHEIN takes all claims of infringement seriously, and we take swift action when complaints are raised by valid IP rights holders.
“We will vigorously defend ourselves against this lawsuit and any claims that are without merit.”
Talking about the aim of the lawsuit, the plaintiff’s attorney David Erikson has told NBC News they want to “reign in their bad behavior, and require them to stop copying US designers”.
