I hopped on Shein to see how many designer handbag imitations I could pick out; here are my findings.

As they say, what goes around comes around. The fashion industry, like many other entities, has a definite and easily identifiable food chain. This is obvious, you might think; surely anyone with eyes can see the high fashion houses, the “gods” of this sphere, at the top of the podium where a consumer will willingly shed their wallets for the sake of owning exclusive and wearable art. On the bottom, we might understand the social shame of explaining that, “I got it on Shein.” The look of disapproval for contributing to unsustainability in exchange for the allure of cheap clothes is a weighted decision; would you rather be considered ignorant or briefly stylish? It’s a question we must answer and adjust for inflation on the value of each. It is understood that fashion, along with virtually any other art form, embraces a stark contrast between elite and folk cultures.

But, this is definitely a “zoomed out” perception of this reality, the big picture if you will. Yes, high fashion is expensive and “low” fashion is not, what of it? How can you call this a food chain? 

The reality is that today, in the age of an instantaneous online world, we face the impending doom of microtrends. We’ve basically asked for it: we want all information to travel faster than we can think. Or, even faster than we can come up with new ideas. The current trend cycle is nearly impossible to keep up with the way it’s spinning its’ wheels. And furthermore, pile on top of this the understanding that fast fashion is cheap, thus the appeal of quickly stealing a design that we can tell is popular via way of the internet. Hear it loud and clear: fast fashion needs cheap and easy ways to keep up.

So, allow me to clarify the “zoomed in” version of this. I hopped on Shein recently to check for myself how frequently high fashion is copied at the low fashion scale. I entered the “top selling” bags section, and was in awe of the fact that just around the top five bags shown were obvious imitations of iconic designer pieces. I was shocked; right before my eyes was the $15 version of the Balenciaga Cagole, an undoubted “it bag” of the season. Retailing right around $2500, this is quite the discount, I thought. I noticed the very recognizable Comme des Garçons heart-eyed, or should I say heart-with-eyes, motif lining multiple canvas totes. Is this not copyrighted? Or, shall I mention Shein’s take on Dior’s monogram book tote, a bag that once stood at the height of 2021 microtrends? I could go on, but the list never ends.

And let me be clear, it is not shocking that brands like Shein copy high fashion like this. What was shocking is the fact that they can get away with directly copying something like this. Obviously, artists everywhere are able to “steal like an artist”; we take inspiration from art that exists and put a new spin on it complete with new inspiration. Plagiarism, though, is never a hot trend. However, this is what I found:

People want to look expensive, no matter the cost. And, this is no shade to anyone; all of humankind can empathize with this. But, this is also the thing, not everyone knows that they want to look expensive: the amount of bags on Shein the average shopper wouldn’t understand to be a literal designer copy is astronomical. It calls into question: without an obvious copyrighted motif, what is stealing? With art, it’s a question that will have you racking your brain thinking about it. Shein is obviously copying Balenciaga’s Cagole, which has no logo or obvious Balenciaga branding on it. How can we take this to court? If we could arrest Shein for precisely copying a shape, design, and composition, we would undoubtedly have a warrant.

The tragic answer is that since art is subjective, so can the answers revolving around it. The phrase is “steal like an artist” not, “plagiarize like an artist”. We should be working our way towards sustainable routes anway; this is just one of the many reasons. So, if you happen to find yourself perusing Shein, perhaps take note to remember that it is not only those within fast fashion that a purchase impacts: it’s those outside and up the stairs as well.

Written by Aubrey Matson, Photography: Alexis Holt, Social Media: Sheyla Hidalgo