Fast Fashion Retailer Shein Has Been Hit With A RICO Case Over Alleged Criminal Activity

SOURCE: A lawsuit was filed Tuesday against Shein, alleging the fast fashion retailer runs an elaborate operation that seeks out and steals the intellectual property of designers, big and small, while also utilizing a "confusing" corporate structure that allows the company to circumvent allegations of theft with minimal legal consequence.

Independent designers Krista Perry, Larissa Martinez, and Jay Baron accuse Shein of "produc[ing], distribut[ing], and selling exact copies of their creative works,” claiming its actions are “part and parcel of Shein’s ‘design’ process and organizational DNA,” according to The Fashion Law.

The suit claims Shein utilizes a "secretive algorithm" that is meant to identify growing fashion trends and purposely produces a small amount of an allegedly stolen item in the event of an infringement allegation. If the company is accused of stealing a design, Shein is able to quickly resolve the matter.

"When Shein copies a small or independent designer, the most likely outcome (without brand protection specialists and specialized software on the lookout) is that the infringement will go unnoticed," the complaint reads. If demand for the item remains high, Shein will allegedly produce more, as long as the threat of infringement doesn't exist.

I couldn't believe what I was reading when I first saw this article. You know what type of crazy shit you have to be doing as an online retailer to get hit with a RICO like you're YSL? RICOs were initially created to combat the mafia and now we've got them against Instagram retailers. Shein is basically the new like JC Penney or something for online Instagram girlies. They basically just steal designs and sell them at crazy prices like 95% off and you pay $2.75 for some blouse that will surely tear after one use. The ethics of it all? Who cares, have you seen Becky in this dress that she got from there? They've completely taken over in the last few years and are valued at 66 BILLION dollars. If you know a girl between the ages of 18 and like thirty, they've probably ordered something from Shein. They're massive. It's sort of a "if you know you know" thing too, because people don't want to admit they're purchasing from fast fashion retailers due to it being probably morally pretty fucked up. 

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I did a little more research on what this RICO entails, and basically they have a bunch of shell companies they're using to steal designs. Basically, these companies just run a long tunnel of taking smaller apparel brands designs, which eventually get sold on Shein, and then they shift the blame to these shell companies when artists and brands are like what the fuck?

Now if you search Shein on Twitter, it's just a bunch of girls saying aww that's too bad, now give us 98% off instead of the normal 80:

Nothing will get in the way of cheap clothes for that girl who won't give you the time of day unless you're taking her to Nobu on the first date. Anyway, apparently this is comical timing because Shein just ran the positive PR unpatched method of sending TikTok influencers to their factories in China a few weeks ago to show that they aren't just a sweatshop:

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Now they're facing a RICO like they're the Genovese family. Life comes at you fast.