Online clothing label Sabo Skirt has taken 21 companies to court, alleging they sold cheap knockoff versions of its designs.
The case has been filed in Australia's Federal Court against a group of local and international retailers including Kmart and fast fashion giant Shein.
The Queensland-based brand is accusing the businesses of damaging their reputation by selling garments similar to theirs, but “not crafted with high quality materials or craftsmanship.”
Here’s what you need to know.
The case
Sabo Skirt (also trading as ‘Sabo’) is an Australian women’s fashion brand based in Queensland, known for its resort and event wear.
The brand alleges Shein, Kmart, and a further 19 retailers are selling cheap imitations of its original designs.
The claim covers 36 different items of clothing, designs, patterns and prints, with each brand accused of copying either whole or parts of that work.
The core allegation is not only that the designs were copied, but that they were reproduced in lower-quality materials and sold at significantly discounted prices.
Sabo argues this affected its sales and damaged its brand reputation.
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Australian online retailer Billy J faces the most allegations of any defendant, accused of copying 11 garments.
It is not the first time some of these companies have been accused of “fashion duping”.
Shein in particular has faced a wave of similar legal actions globally.
The company has been accused of using data scraping and electronic monitoring to identify popular designs and reproduce them at scale.
In 2024, Shein settled with Sabo over allegations it had copied one of the brand’s knit dresses. Sabo alleges it has since breached the terms of that settlement by continuing to sell the item.
Responses
Shein issued a statement to the ABC acknowledging the claims and saying it takes cases like these seriously, adding that infringing others’ intellectual property is “not our business model.”
Kmart has said it will not make an official comment while the matter is before the court.
Court documents reveal Kmart has indicated it will not cease selling the disputed garments, meaning some products were still available for purchase online at the time of publishing.
