Shein accuses competitor Temu of plagiarism

Things are not going well between the two Chinese giants, which dominate ultra-fast fashion on a global scale. An extremely competitive sector that is making fortunes and has a disastrous impact on the planet, warn NGOs.

It is a sector that is developing at full speed: ultra fast fashion, the sale of fashion clothing at very low prices. The two Chinese companies, Shein and Temu, are among the top 10 most visited e-commerce websites in France. But the two giants are engaged in a new legal battle. This time, it’s happening in the United States and it’s Shein who started the hostilities by filing a complaint at the end of August against its competitor for non-compliance with intellectual property.

Shein accuses Temu of copying its clothes from photos in order to attract new customers. These accusations of plagiarism seem to be commonplace in this fast fashion sector. Today, it is Shein who finds himself with the status of victim, but the Chinese giant has also been accused of copying big brands like Adidas or H&M.

If The two Chinese companies have such a conflictual relationship, it is because we are in an extremely competitive sector that generates hundreds of billions of dollars each year. The two Chinese companies are engaged in a fierce battle to conquer new market shares in Europe and the United States. Shein, which has been present in this niche since the 2010s, has not digested the arrival of Temu in 2022 in the United States. The latter has managed to establish itself in many countries in less than two years. In France, for example, Temu was the 7th most visited website in e-commerce in the 2nd quarter, barely a year after its arrival in France. Shein is only 10th.

Amazon is still in the lead in France, but the American company has cause for concern, because the growth of its Chinese competitors is dazzling, thanks to its low prices. A policy of very low prices, sometimes just a few cents to buy a t-shirt. If Shein has made its strength on clothing, Temu is adding many other products to its platform, such as toys, decoration and even high-tech.

“Next to them, Amazon are choirboys.“, summarizes the spokesperson in France for the Stop fast fashion collective. The two new players are accused of pushing overconsumption, with very low quality clothing that must be constantly renewed. A particularly disastrous impact on the environment. Everything is produced in workshops in China and, as the customer must be delivered as quickly as possible in the rest of the world, these are planes that are constantly going back and forth between China, Europe and the United States, the equivalent, according to the NGO Les Amis de la Terre, of 88 Boeing 777s that are mobilized each day to transport 9,000 tons of goods.

There are also the poor working conditions in Chinese factories, even though Shein explains that it has done a lot of work to upgrade and train the workshops. In Europe, and particularly in France, rules are gradually being put in place to try to limit the development of these new-style traders, but without any real success so far.