Small designers hitting roadblocks trying to get support against Shein copies

When fashion designer Jo Smith reached out for support after discovering her designs had been copied by Shein, she said she was referred around by so many departments she felt like she was in "pass the parcel."

The Central Coast-based sole trader said she first found out two of her dresses from her company Y Not Sissy had been replicated when a loyal customer's daughter saw them on Shein.

Ms Smith said running a slow-fashion, small-batch label, she worried about the damage Shein's copies would do.

"They were using my own images. I'm the face of my brand and that's what was so upsetting," she said.

Ms Smith reached out to seven different government bodies and ministers including the small business minister and ACCC for help, but kept getting referred to other departments.

"No one would help me. No one even knew what to do," she said.

"I've got more reference numbers than you can poke a stick at."

She said she spent three days reaching out for support to get the dresses taken down.

In that time one of Ms Smith's designs sold out.

"I had the fabric left over to make some more dresses, but because it was on Shein, I chose not to [restock]," she said.

"And the other dress … I've sold one. So it does affect your business."

However, she said during that time her customers rallied behind her, pointing out fakes of her work online and even sending flowers.

"They actually get heartbroken for me because they know how much love I put into the clothes," she said.

'Roadblock after roadblock'

Some Australian designers told the ABC they felt intimidated speaking up against large ultra-fast fashion retailers because of the business size imbalance.

Brisbane-based designer Kristian Williams was not one of them.

When he found one of his Kristian Williams The Brand kaftans being advertised on Instagram by another business, he immediately made a "song and dance" about it.

"I will scream about it, I'm not afraid to go head-to-head with these people," he said.

Mr Williams said he was having issues in particular with "ghost stores" — online retailers misrepresenting themselves as local businesses.

Like Ms Smith, Mr Williams' own imagery was being used to advertise the duplicate garments.

But he was concerned for the customers who were being misled into buying what end up being low-quality rip-offs of his designs.

He said he had reported the ads to Meta and the ACCC but did not receive a response.

"You just hit roadblock after roadblock after roadblock. And they don't do anything. They don't care,"

he said.

"When these ads are running that are selling fakes of your product, the advertising is going, gangbusters for these people, whoever they are, wherever they are.

"But it's confusing people, I don't want customers thinking that that's mine."

However, he said one positive was new customers had discovered his label from the duplicates.

"They see advertising, they fall for it, they buy it, they get it, they realise how bad it is, and then they get furious because they know that they've been done over," he said.

"I think they aggressively search stuff online and probably reverse image search, do their research … they end up finding me."

An ACCC spokesperson said businesses selling in Australia must meet their consumer guarantee obligations under Australian Consumer Law (ACL).

"One of these guarantees is that any description of the product must be accurate. If a consumer receives an item that is different from its description, they may be entitled to a remedy from the business depending on the circumstances," the spokesperson said.

When the ABC contacted Shein and provided links to items Ms Smith and Mr Williams said were duplicates of their work, those items were removed from its website.

When asked why the items were removed, a spokesperson said: "When legitimate complaints are raised by valid IP rights holders, SHEIN promptly addresses the situation, and removes the products from our site as a matter of caution while we investigate."

"If a violation is confirmed, SHEIN takes appropriate action."

International approaches

Australian Fashion Council (AFC) chair Marianne Perkovic said the rise of ultra-fast fashion had accelerated the copying problem in what was an "uneven playing field."

She said the changing online landscape meant overseas manufacturers had more access to Australian brands, making it easier to create duplicates as lower prices.

"But as we know that price doesn't cater for all of the hard work that Australian fashion designers do," she said.

"It doesn't have the compliance, the labour costs, the product safety, environmental and tax issues."

She said the AFC had been advocating for a three-part solution to the issue; increasing local manufacturing capabilities, educating consumers and taxing overseas ultra-fast fashion businesses.

Since the introduction of reciprocal tariffs in the US, Shein's sales value has decreased by 4.5 per cent, Euromonitor data shows.

Other nations have also introduced different taxes and laws to address the fast-fashion giant's impact.

France has banned advertising from ultra-fast fashion businesses and introduced a fee which will rise to 10 euros ($16) per item by 2030.

In New Zealand, a "Temu tax" was recently introduced that requires businesses importing or exporting low-value items to pay a levy of NZ$2.21 ($1.80) per package.

Australia introduced the voluntary Seamless scheme in 2024, which aims to create clothing circularity by 2030. It requires participating businesses to pay a 4 per cent per garment levy to promote clothing repair, rental and recycling. However, the scheme does not cover overseas retailers like Shein.

When contacted for comment, Attorney-General Michelle Rowland's office directed the ABC to IP Australia.

IP Australia then directed the ABC to the Industry and Innovation Minister, Tim Ayres.

Mr Ayres and Small Business Minister Anne Aly did not respond before the ABC's deadline.

Queensland Attorney General Deb Frecklington, noting IP was a federal matter, said she would "advocate strongly" on behalf of Queensland designers.

"As Attorney-General, I will always stand up for the rights of Queenslanders and small businesses, including those in the design and fashion industry," she said.

Queensland Minister for Small Business Steve Minnikin said the state provided resources such as the Intellectual Property Info Kit to help navigate IP and copyright laws.

"I encourage innovation and support small and family businesses to develop original IP to gain a competitive advantage," he said.