Australian designers abandon fight against Shein's systematic copying

Small Australian fashion designers are increasingly giving up their efforts to combat widespread intellectual property theft by Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein, citing the prohibitive time and resources required to pursue individual infringement claims.

The issue has emerged as a significant challenge for Australia's independent design sector, with creators discovering their original work regularly reproduced and sold through Shein's platform without authorisation or compensation.

The scale of the problem

Melbourne-based designer Klaudia Burzynska, who launched her label Things You Really Like on Etsy in 2020, exemplifies the frustration facing local creatives. Ms Burzynska discovered her designs being duplicated on Shein after encountering her own product photography being used in the retailer's advertising.

"The first time I saw them was when I was going through Pinterest and I got an ad from Shein of my own photos and my own T-shirts," Ms Burzynska said. "That's when I went looking in there … and then it was never-ending, I could just keep looking and finding them."

The infringements extended beyond product design to include Ms Burzynska's original marketing materials and photography. Despite initially pursuing removal requests through Shein's intellectual property portal, the sheer volume of duplications has led her to abandon the effort as economically unfeasible for a one-person operation.

Systemic disadvantage for small businesses

The challenge reflects a broader structural inequality within Australia's creative industries. Small independent designers typically operate with minimal staff and limited budgets, making it impractical to engage in sustained legal action or repeated infringement notices against a multinational corporation.

Shein's business model—characterised by rapid product turnover and high-volume production—enables the retailer to absorb occasional takedown notices as minor operational costs. For individual Australian designers, however, each infringement represents lost sales and unauthorised use of their intellectual labour.

The Chinese company's decentralised supplier network complicates enforcement efforts further, as designs may be listed through third-party sellers rather than directly by Shein itself.

Company response

Shein maintains it takes appropriate action when intellectual property violations are confirmed through its formal claims process. However, the company's response mechanisms appear inadequate to address the scale and velocity at which designs are being copied and relisted.

Implications for Australian design sector

This trend threatens to undermine Australia's independent fashion and design community, particularly emerging creators who lack the legal resources or brand protection capacity of larger established labels. The situation highlights gaps in international intellectual property enforcement and the limitations of existing dispute mechanisms when confronting large-scale, persistent infringement.

Industry advocates argue that stronger regulatory oversight of fast-fashion retailers' supply chains, combined with improved digital tools for design authentication, may be necessary to address the problem comprehensively.

Originally reported by ABC News