By Evridiki Fatolia,
It’s unbelievable how much we’re attracted to the cheap. Look, I totally understand. Life has been dramatically expensive but we need to set some limits somewhere. Because from some point on, it’s not a budget issue but a way of thinking. With regard to the way we buy clothes, especially in Greece, we are in favor of quantity rather than quality. We are among the countries that love to shop from brands like Shein and the excuse for most is one: It sells clothes for 5€. For some, this is a necessity (because, let’s say, not everyone has the ability to allocate 50€ and 60€, which is the minimum budget to shop even at brands like Zara), but for others, it is not even that. It’s the quantity. “Come on, this dress costs $10. And if I never wore it, nothing happened.” But something is happening. There’s a lot going on.
Pollution (and I am talking about actual pollution and the tons of clothes that end up in our garbage and then, in landfills in developing countries) has a huge impact on our (near) future and present. Not for the future of our children, not even for our grandchildren and grandkids. All this is because we choose to shop from brands that produce 500 clothes per day, per employee. These are proven pieces of evidence that have been released for Shein—one of the many shameful pieces of evidence discovered for the brand, following a British Channel 4 survey published in the autumn of 2022.
Among all Shein’s shames is the infringement of intellectual property or, more specifically, designs by independent designers. In its 14 years of operation, the company (which offers in its e-shop more than 2,000 new styles every day), has been accused of crudely copying the designs of independent fashion designers.
It’s not a few times that these designers have blamed the company for copying their designs, but when you have to deal with one of the most powerful fast fashion companies right now, you can’t find your right anywhere. If you copy the design of another well-known fashion brand, which has a very strong team of lawyers, maybe Shein will be a model. That’s what’s happening now, with Uniqlo accusing Shein of copying. We don’t fall from the clouds. Shein copies Uniqlo’s popular shoulder bag and is being sued. Japanese fashion brand Uniqlo is suing Shein, saying the Chinese fast-fashion company is selling cheaper copies of its viral shoulder bag. The Fast Retailing Company, which owns the Uniqlo and Theory brands, said in a statement that the copies Shein sells are very similar to the popular Round Mini Shoulder Bag by Uniqlo that went viral on TikTok in 2023.
At the price of £14.90, the Uniqlo bag was one of the hottest products of last year. According to fashion tech company Lyst, which controls online searches, but also sales and data on social media, the most discussed bag of the first half of 2023, was that of Uniqlo, which still costs less than £15.
Of course, due to the popularity of this bag, many copies have been created, with Shein’s one exceeding all reason, as it is sold at the price of £3.25. This put the Japanese brand in the process of doing an investigation into the counterfeits circulating on the market and taking the corresponding measures. Somehow, this led to a lawsuit against Shein by Uniqlo, with the latter filing lawsuits against two more clothing manufacturers, accusing them of copying. According to the lawsuit filed, Uniqlo “requests the immediate cessation of the sale of the counterfeits and compensation for the damages suffered by the company as a result of these sales.” The lawsuit adds that the sale of these “fakes”, significantly undermines consumer confidence in the quality of the products Uniqlo provides to its customers and that the company is determined to go against any kind of copying or theft of its intellectual property.
Shein has not given a specific answer to these allegations, with a company representative simply saying that they are investigating the matter. “Shein respects the intellectual property of others and takes all allegations of infringement seriously,” she said specifically. Of course, this is not true, as the company is often accused of copying, as already stated, especially by independent designers, which is like stealing food from a homeless person. Since many of these designers are trying to establish themselves in a dog-eat-dog fashion industry that is struggling to recognize new creators, the fact that a fast fashion company so grossly steals its designs and sells them for much less is the epitome of dishonor.
Last year alone, three designers sued the company for infringement of their intellectual property and also for fraud, saying that Shein exactly copied their designs. The excuse of cheap clothes is no longer enough to continue your shopping from there. Just the idea of such a low cost of producing a garment, should prevent us from buying from the e-shop.
In order to exclude such phenomena, we can very easily reduce our dependence on fast fashion. There are alternatives with which we will combine many sources to fix our wardrobe. Easy and effortless. Here are a few:
- To invest in quality clothes so that we do not have to change them every 1-2 years. In the long run, it will cost us less than buying the same items from a fast fashion brand.
- To shop from second hand stores where we can find “diamonds”. In these shops are hidden cheap, quality and timeless clothes – plus, vintage is very trendy. In this way, we are reviving something that would end up in landfills. It’s by far the most affordable way to shop. Hands down our answer. You can’t tell that fast fashion companies are cheaper than a store that sells second hand clothes. The joy of finding a used suit that fits you perfectly is like finding a buried treasure. The choice of second hand clothes is economically ideal for those with young children.
- Even if we support fast fashion because we have a low budget – very reasonable in today’s Greece – we buy clothes as simple as possible. Clothes combined in many ways so that they are not useless after a few seasons.
- We repair as much of our favorite clothes as possible, instead of throwing them away. Thus we support the local companies in the neighborhood such as the “chagari” and the molders.
What material are your clothes made of? Are the fabrics legal and safe? Who makes your clothes and under what conditions? These should be questions that concern us when we buy clothes, especially from a brand like Shein, for which there is proven evidence of unethical working conditions, among others.
References
- Uniqlo vs. Shein: The Battle Over a Viral Bag – Copyright Law. Lawdit Solicitors. Available here
- Uniqlo sues Shein over ‘imitation’ banana-shaped ‘it’ bag. The Guardian. Available here
