Kiwi designers face-off with Aliexpress, Shein copies
New Zealand fashion designers are reporting an increase in offshore fast-fashion retailers like AliExpress and Shein stealing their intellectual property. Designers are calling for better monitoring and stronger legal protections to prevent the unauthorized use of their imagery and designs.
Why it matters
This highlights the growing tension between small-scale independent creators and global e-commerce platforms regarding digital copyright and intellectual property theft.
New Zealand clothing brands say they've had a gutsful of offshore fast fashion giants using their images and ripping off designs. <b>By Bella Craig of </b><a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/life/style/kiwi-designers-face-off-with-aliexpress-shein-copies" target="_blank"><b>RNZ</b></a> It's prompted calls for tougher penalties and stronger monitoring across fast fashion sites, as well as better protection for small businesses. Ruby general manager Emily Miller-Sharma has seen several designs by her popular local label appear on fast fashion website AliExpress over the last couple of years. AliExpress is a massive international online marketplace, with sellers and manufacturers mainly based in China. Listings on the site used Ruby's images to sell replicas of their products, at a much lower cost. "Initially we were like what do we do? Because these are massive companies, you can't just call them up and be like 'please can you take my imagery down'.
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