Kiwi designers face-off with Aliexpress, Shein copies

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'. "So, we spoke with our people at NZTE (New Zealand Trade and Enterprise) and they gave us the contact details for the correct place where we were able to contact AliExpress and get them to take it down. "It can be quite freaky actually, it can be quite scary when a massive corporation takes your design assets, your photographic assets and uses it as [their] own. "You don't know what to do about it and it actually feels quite lonely." Sera Lilly, who owns a clothing brand called Friday Flamingo, based in Feilding, knows the feeling. Last year, a customer spotted some of Lilly's products replicated on fast-fashion website, Shein. The Friday Flamingo designer purchased them to see how they compared. "They weren't the same quality, [but] same kind of fabric and print obviously they're very good at replicating the fabric and what it looks like. "But it didn't feel the same, it almost felt like that almost plastic feel, like really cheap and didn't fit." Lilly posted about the copies on her social media and the story was picked up by local media. Soon after, Shein took down the listings, she said, but she's not sure what she could do if it happens again. "We're a small brand, we don't have a lawyer, we don't have the funds to go and fight this big corporate brand. "I don't know what I'd do, I think I would just possibly put it out there, say this is happening again and then just leave it, because there's not a lot you can really do." Checkpoint attempted to contact Shein and AliExpress for comment via email but received no reply. Jacinta Fitzgerald, CEO of Fashion and Textiles New Zealand, said the rip-offs undermine trust in the industry. "There needs to be accountability, and we need to have clear guardrails in place so that New Zealand businesses are able to protect their creative IP, protect their designs, protect their brands. "[They] need to know that there's a system in place that will support that." Sophie Thoreau, an intellectual property lawyer at Buddle Finlay, said some things are automatically protected under the law. "Original artwork or distinctive prints or some sort of unique pattern, they'll all be protected under New Zealand's copyright Act," she said. "The line will be crossed where a company reproduces that specific design, without authorisation, so without the permission of the designer." But Thoreau said sometimes it's hard to tell what's lawful and what actually crosses the line. "People in the fast fashion industry are really quite savvy and they will know that making something identical, is going to constitute infringement. "So, they're quite clever and they'll come just close enough to muddy the waters." Thoreau said the cost of getting legal help is often out of reach for small businesses, so she suggests designers document when ideas are created and make sure they're aware of their rights.