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A busy mother of three who runs her own business was “heartbroken” after she claimed to have found nearly identical swimsuit designs on Shein to her own.
Emily Gradon, from regional Queensland, launched Tribe Tropical from her kitchen bench in December 2018 while pregnant with her third child.
Today, the brand has more than 30,000 Instagram followers and is adored by customers across the country.
But after doing a “random search” with Google Lens to “check” for similar styles using her own images, Emily was devastated to discover that fast fashion retail giant Shein had four suits that looked very similar to her. own colorful swimsuit designs.
“I was so upset, really heartbroken to be honest,” Emily told FEMAIL.
A busy mother of three who runs her own business was “heartbroken” after she claimed to have found nearly identical swimsuit designs on Shein to her own. Shein’s children’s one-piece swimsuits (pictured, left) retail for $11.95 and look almost identical to Tribe Tropical’s $64.95 swimsuits (pictured, right)
“I was so upset, really heartbroken to be honest,” Emily (pictured, left, with her family) told FEMAIL. When she saw similar designs on Shein, she thought of the “countless hours of work and expense” that went into developing the product and designs.
Shein’s children’s one-piece swimsuits retail for $11.95 and look almost identical to Tribe Tropical’s $64.95 swimsuits.
When she saw similar designs on Shein, Emily said she thought of the “countless hours of work and expense” that went into developing the product and designs.
“None of the patterns I use come from a cookie cutter catalog, they take many months to develop and reach the standard I envision,” said Emily.
‘One of the prints used was a full copy of original artwork by Brisbane-based artist Stacey Bigg, who I commissioned to do the Cairns Birdwing Butterflies pattern and is inspired by the Daintree Rainforest.’
Emily emphasized that the prints Shein used were not “complete copies” of hers, except for one, but that the designs “appeared to be inspired by” Tribe Tropical.
‘Instead of beautiful hand-drawn Australian birds, they added other birds that are not native to Australia. My brand is inspired by tropical Australia, so that makes my patterns unique,” she said.
Offering UPF50+ protection to block 97 percent of UVA and UVB rays, Tribe Tropical swimsuits are designed with long sleeve coverage, a pretty ruffle detail on the legs and are double lined.
Its products are also stocked in over 20 locations in Australia and in the US.
Emily emphasized that the prints Shein used were not “complete copies” of hers, except for one, but that the designs “appeared to be inspired by” Tribe Tropical. Despite the similarity in design, Emily said it’s the quality that sets the products apart
Despite the similarity in design, Emily said it’s the quality that sets the products apart.
“I was relieved to see the quality difference was obvious – my product is superior to theirs, as is my workmanship, from the piping details to the double lining to the cut of my suits,” she said.
Emily also doesn’t believe she’s “lost customers” from the ordeal, but is still hurt by the “complete disrespect and disrespect.”
“I know my target customers don’t shop with Shein, and Shein customers wouldn’t shop with me either because their values don’t align with ours, so I didn’t feel like I lost customers per se. ,’ she said.
“But it just upset me to see my ideas being used by another company, which is so much bigger than mine.”
Emily claims she emailed Shein but “never heard back.” She consulted a defamation attorney and was told the legal team could send a “cease and desist letter” directly to Shein about the potential copyright infringement.
“I think consumers have a right to know what goes on behind the scenes of the products they decide to invest their hard-earned money in,” she said.
Emily claims she emailed Shein but “never heard back.”
She consulted a defamation attorney and was told the legal team could send a “cease and desist letter” directly to Shein about the potential copyright infringement.
But Emily said she has “fears that this alone won’t prevent this from happening again.”
“I think consumers have a right to know what goes on behind the scenes of the products they decide to invest their hard-earned money in,” she said.
“I don’t know what it takes for multinationals like this to stop doing these things to small brands – I know I’m not the first to experience this, and I know I won’t be the last, unfortunately. ‘
A Shein spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia: ‘Shein takes all claims of infringement seriously’
A Shein spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia: “Shein takes all claims of infringement seriously.”
“It is not our intention to violate anyone’s valid intellectual property, nor is it our business model to do so.
Shein suppliers are required to comply with company policies and certify that their products do not infringe third party IP.
“We continue to invest in and improve our product review process.”