Fast fashion has become a dominant force in the fashion industry and is only growing larger. Companies like Zara, Shein and H&M are extremely popular because they provide trendy and low-cost items. However, there’s a lesser-known side of these companies that is often overlooked. Fast fashion companies are often caught stealing designs from small, independent designers.
Shein adds over 10,000 new items to their website per month. Because Shein and similar fast fashion companies are under intense pressure to meet high quotas, this often leads them to resort to unethical practices.
Design Theft
Design theft is a major issue in the fashion industry. Stealing a design is a violation of the designer’s hard work, creativity, and reputation. Designers can spend hours, weeks and even months working on a single design. When fast fashion companies steal designs and give no credit to the original designer, these designers can lose their customers and potentially their entire businesses.
Today, there are no legal protection for clothing designs. Clothing items and designs are not able to be copyrighted because clothing is considered to be a “useful article” and not a form of creative expression. This leaves small designers vulnerable to having their designs stolen and copied without widespread recognition. Sadly, because of the lack of copyright laws, there is not much a designer can do once their design has been stolen.
Companies like Zara, Shein, H&M and Old Navy are just a few of the big companies that have been caught stealing designs in the past. This practice is not a new issue. It has been growing in recent years with the increased usage of social media. Many independent fashion designers use social media to help grow their businesses while fast fashion companies scour the internet to “copy and paste” their designs.
Elexiay Designs
Elyon Adede, the designer and founder of the fashion brand Elexiay, was upset to see that one of her designs was stolen by Shein in 2021. Adede’s brand is focused on Nigerian sustainability and includes beautifully-crafted handmade and recyclable crocheted pieces. When Adede saw that Shein stole the design of her Amelia sweater, she tweeted, “Spent hours designing and brainstorming this design and it takes days to crochet each sweater. It’s quite disheartening to see my hard work reduced to a machine-made copy.” Adede continues to design despite her setbacks. Another tweet quotes, “It costs $0.00 to retweet & help me grow my small business,” followed by an image of her design.
#sheinstolemydesign
There are countless other stories just like Adede’s. Many designers have shared their stories about their designs and even their website photos being stolen by fast fashion companies. In fact, there’s an entire hashtag dedicated to this issue on TikTok called #sheinstolemydesign with over 14.6 million views.
How We Can Help
As fashion consumers, we have the ability to support independent designers and help put an end to design theft. One way we can do this is by choosing to shop from smaller businesses and independent designers instead of fast fashion companies like Shein, Zara, ASOS and more. By supporting smaller designers, not only are we getting the original design, but we’re also getting better quality pieces. We can also spread awareness of this issue by posting on social media and tagging the original designers if we notice their design has been copied. Additionally, it’s important for independent designers to speak up for themselves and continue to call out companies when their designs and businesses are being taken out from under them. Let’s all do our part to create a more ethical and creative fashion industry, as well as support the designers who create the clothing that we love.
Be sure to tweet @VALLEYmag on Twitter with your thoughts on fast fashion!
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