User:NoCilantro/Shein

Shein (styled as SHEIN; pronounced /ʃiː.ɪn/) is a Chinese online fast fashion retailer. It was founded in 2008 by Chris Xu in Nanjing, China as SheInside and sold women's fashion. The company is known for its cheaply priced apparel which is made directly in China. In its early stages, Shein was more of a dropshipping business rather than a retailer. Shein was not involved in clothing designing and manufacturing and would instead get their products from a wholesale clothing market in Guangzhou. In 2014, Shein got its own supply chain and purchased Romwe, which is another Chinese e-commerce retailer. This made Shein become a "fully integrated retailer." In 2015, the brand officially changed its name to Shein. In 2020, Shein was the most talked about brand on TikTok and Youtube and the 4th most talked about brand on Instagram. Shein currently serves over 220 countries. Since 2018, Shein has been sued by both major and small fashion brands for copyright infringement issues.

Trademark Disputes
AirWair International Limited, who are known for the Dr. Martens boots, filed a complaint in California on February 5, 2021. AirWair International accused Shein and its sister company, Romwe, of selling copies of their designs (and calling them "Martins") at a cheaper price while using photos of authentic Dr. Marten shoes to "entice customers," to which Shein responded to with a blanket denial of AirWair International's claims. The trial date is set for April 18, 2022 in San Francisco. On March 2021, Ralph Lauren filed a trademark infringement and unfair competition lawsuit against Zoetop Business Co. (the parent company of Shein). In the complaint, Ralph Lauren said that Zoetop Business Co. selling clothing with a "confusingly similar" mark was an exploitation of their "goodwill and reputation of genuine Ralph Lauren products."

Shein has also been accused by a number of small fashion retailers of stealing designs and selling them at a lowered cost. In 2018, Ilse Valfre, who owns the LA-based brand Valfré, was notified by her customers that Shein was selling "identical copies" to her products. Quinn Jones, who is the co-founder of Kikay (an earring brand in Los Angeles), said that he found earring designs on Shein that were very similar to Kikay's earrings. Elexiay (a Black-owned fashion brand) also claims that Shein stole its design of a pink and green hand-crocheted sweater, which costs $330, but was sold by Shein for $17. Reclamare PH and Sincerely RIA, both of which are small fashion brands, have said on their social media handles that Shein has copied their designs. Shein has also been accused of copying designs of non-clothing such as enamel pins. In an effort to bring awareness to Shein's actions and to help support indie brands and artists, the hashtag "boycottShein" became popular on TikTok and Twitter in 2020. Since 2019, there has been a total of 19 lawsuits against Shein's parent company, Zoetop Business Limited Co.