In Lagos, Nigeria, a seller at the busy Katangowa flea market showed Rest of World denim garments from China hanging in his stall, and others he identified as returned clothes from the U.S. These are mostly European secondhand clothes and Chinese factory rejects, said Ernest Okeke, who runs a clothing stall in the market. Both appeared to be at residential addresses the last received signal before the AirTag pings disappeared. Huang, a niche designer, faces the same dilemma as thousands of Chinese clothing suppliers who sell on marketplaces like Amazon or via an ultra-fast-fashion giant like Shein. One illustrator, who claimed to have their skeleton artwork lifted, tweeted: Shein stole my art and slapped it on a phone case, not sure if I should be flattered or mad.. This is about companies trying to exploit art for their own benefit and profit without a thought for the rights of those artists. (A Shein spokesperson said in an email that the company did not own the New Jersey warehouse or have any relationship with the furniture company but does operate a warehouse in Los Angeles.). Artists say firm with murky ethical record is stealing their designs. Gamers are still skeptical. They obviously dont care, she said. Added pandemic-related supply chain issues soaring freight rates, worker shortages, and lengthened shipping times have ensured that other options arent worth the time and expense they require. Colorful bales of clothing arrive by the hundreds weekly at Apapa Wharf at the Port of Lagos in Nigeria, home to the countrys two biggest seaports. Shein confirmed that the U.S. Dozens of people have posted about their designs being stolen online, sometimes using the slogan #ShameOnShein. For Huang, unless the product is a bestseller, he considers most returned items dead stock. Refunds for the three items were issued as soon as the items were scanned into a New Jersey warehouse, which shares an address with a Chinese furniture company called Loye. For those who do choose to take on the firm, it can often be a losing battle. Elora Pautrat, 26, an illustrator and digital artist based in Edinburgh, sent a stern email to Shein after a fan messaged her on Instagram to tell her one of her ethereal purple cityscapes was being used on a mousemat. Left with bales of clothing, manufacturing companies headquartered in China coordinate bulk shipments of garments from the U.S. and China to destinations in Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia, a Rest of World analysis found via company listings on Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce platform.
But since that first incident, in 2020, she claims the company has lifted her work on about 10 further occasions and used it on products including stickers and prints. And theyve just taken my world to China and whacked it on an acrylic jumper.. Rest of World used the AirTags to track the progress of the third and fourth items, the third a muted coffee-brown knit with raglan sleeves ($19.99), and the fourth a ribbed cotton dress ($9), through the returns process. For shoppers, returns via a giant e-commerce retailer app like Sheins, making a return is a simple process. She chooses this option most frequently. The spokesperson for Shein did not answer a question about whether unsold stock was calculated in the companys profit model, saying in a written response that they do not disclose proprietary business data. They also declined to share what percentage of the companys orders are returned. The protest comes amidst dropping wages, rising inflation, and an investment crunch in the region. Postal Service is among its own logistics partners. But when she posted her complaint on social media, Shein a rival to Asos, Boohoo and PrettyLittleThing wrote back and apologised. Returns are processed directly through the Shein App. Men carry a bundle of garments at the Kantamanto Market for second-hand clothing in Accra, Ghana. Its frustrating because they do have power and resources to make proper collaborations with artists and still make a lot of money out of it, said Pautrat, who says the latest alleged violation was in January. Postal Service to suburbs of California and Florida respectively. After an exchange, Pautrat was paid some money from the sales of the product and promised it would never happen again. The person puts side-by-side pictures on social media, everyone gets really angry, and it looks bad for the fast fashion label. Instead, she alleges it plastered her picture on its product without ever getting in touch. Rest of Worlds AirTagged returns appeared to travel via the U.S. The 17 jumper in the image attached to the email had a picture printed on it that was unmistakably hers.
They didnt remotely bother trying to change anything, she said. According to Shobert, returns cost retailers about two-thirds of an items original selling price. The Artists Union, which represents more than 500 members in England, called for regulatory action to hold repeat offenders to account. They have basically built their profit model that if they have to throw away all thats unsold, its calculated into their model, explained Juliana Prather, chief marketing officer at Edited. Next generation play-to-earn games are here. Another alternative is to have the Amazon warehouse evaluate the items resale potential, but she would have to pay Amazon for storage space for those items until they resold. Even though I thought this [idea] was beautiful, said Huang, we decided not to go through with it., The overworked humans behind China's virtual influencers. Shein only orders what it can sell, the spokesperson wrote in an email. Launched in Nanjing in 2008, and based in Singapore, the worlds biggest online fashion firm has a murky ethical track record, including on the environment and workers rights. Each time, she patiently writes to the copyright infringement team and calls them out on social media. Theres a setting where you can choose to have all of your returned inventory destroyed, said Ada. But Bowman had not partnered with the multibillion dollar Chinese clothing behemoth. American consumer spending through the holiday season at Shein alone increased nearly fivefold since 2019. Okeke himself normally spends a few weeks each year shuttling from Lagos to Guangzhou, China, acquiring and shipping denim pants and shirts back to his home country. The Shein jumper bearing one of Vanessa Bowmans designs. In the Shein app, there are a dozen options to choose from in order to explain the reason for a return dont like it, ordered wrong, arrived damaged and a further handful of options to describe exactly which ways an item doesnt fit. Artist Elora Pautrat used social media to call out Shein after it used one of her purple cityscapes on a mousemat. Two Guangzhou-based suppliers told Rest of World that they resell a combination of unsold inventory and defective items. By mid-2021, the Chinese fashion app had almost surpassed Zara and H&M combined to account for the largest share of the American fast-fashion market. As the pandemic drags on, the strain on shipping and labor capacity is only heightening: Huang said he expects his shipping costs to increase by upward of 20% in 2022. Despite having a comfortable profit margin, he still doesnt know if he has enough goods to justify the costs. It was a bit David and Goliath and I was completely overwhelmed.. In these group chats, they ask if retailers want to buy unsold items in bulk, or if anyone has a contact for warehouses, at times in places as far as Italy or Mexico. His firm is seeing two or three infringement cases per month. When legitimate complaints are raised by valid IP rights holders, Shein promptly addresses the situation, it said. The second, an army-green minidress ($9.36), made it to the returns stage: instructions in the Shein app directed it be mailed to an address outside of Newark, New Jersey. Huang Qing, the Shanghai-based creative director of athleisure label Voice of Insiders, meticulously accounts for each design choice. Without specifying the amount of stock, the spokesperson told Rest of World, Many returned items that cannot be restocked are donated to local charities or sold to a wholesaler. As its customer base has grown, so too has the list of alleged copyright breaches. But they just keep stealing for some reason, which just isnt fair.. Why delivery drivers tried to sew their lips shut in Indonesia. Amazon warehouse evaluate the items resale potential. The fashion industry, for a long time, has been able to hide from the right hand what the left hand is doing, said Elizabeth Shobert, vice president of marketing and digital strategy at e-commerce analytics firm StyleSage, referring to the asynchronous processes of sales and returns. Once garments are returned to a factory, China-based traders step in and buy them to shift on to the Nigerian market, he said. Postal Service, which has experienced unprecedented delays during the pandemic, due to high volumes, worker shortages, and increased labor costs. Then, after an item is shipped, thats likely the last time hell see it even if it is returned. They need to be exposed, challenged and named and shamed, she said. In the wake of Axie Infinitys decline, a Brazilian gaming powerhouse is trying to build the next generation of play-to-earn. The artist Vanessa Bowman, who was baffled when she received an email from a fan in Canada asking if she was collaborating with Shein. It added that suppliers were required to certify that their products did not infringe the intellectual property of third parties, with appropriate action taken when non-compliance is found. Shein said it respects designers and artists, and the intellectual property rights of others, and takes all claims of infringement seriously. The oil painter, 51, is the latest member of a fast-growing club of artists and designers who claim their work has been stolen by Shein. Huang had explored a business relationship to recycle his returns with FirstMile, an American e-commerce shipping and fulfillment organization, but the fees were too high nearly $200,000 a year.
On TikTok alone, videos showing customers unpacking orders with dozens of items, labelled with the hashtag #SheinHaul, have racked up more than 4.5 billion views. Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. Many Chinese sellers have set up private WeChat groups. Ada, a manufacturer in Zhejiang who produces homewares, handbags, and pet clothing for sale outside of China on Amazon, joined these groups in early 2021. While copyright infringement is far from new, Bowmans experience is part of a wider trend. At first she didnt receive a reply. When Rest of World pressed the two Chinese traders for details on the international shipments they coordinate, both cut off communication, and one took down its Alibaba page altogether. William Miles, an intellectual property lawyer and partner at Briffa, a specialist art law firm, said the problem of designs being lifted was becoming ever more prevalent in the fast fashion sector. During the pandemic, the Chinese government limited travel by Nigerian traders to China, leaving him to rely on shipping. Over three decades she has honed a unique style and earned a loyal fanbase, with 20,000 followers on Instagram and commissions from House & Garden, Prince Charless Highgrove shop and Farrow & Ball. As online buying ballooned during the pandemic, so did returns. Through the course of reporting this story, a reporter purchased and returned four items from Shein, while using Apple AirTags to track the returned garments journey. Some companies who claim to have had their designs copied have taken legal action, including Dr Martens and Levi Strauss. But, for many independent designers and artists, the time and energy involved with pursuing a complaint is too great to face. One of Optoros logistics partners is UPS, which hired nearly 100,000 new workers during the holiday season to keep up with high online shopping volumes. She asked to be identified by her English first name, out of concern over Amazons scrutiny of Chinese third-party sellers. Some of the pages offer to ship Shein goods in bulk, while others include photos of piled, Shein-branded plastic bags. In an effort to avoid destroying returned items or sending them to landfills, some U.S. retailers turn to companies that specialize in reverse supply chain management by returning goods from shoppers to sellers. The first garment, a trendily cropped, scoop-neck black cardigan ($14.86), was refunded within five hours of initiating the return in Sheins app by the customer service arm in Hong Kong, which told the reporter to keep the clothing.
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