โHowever, we will be continuing to protect and defend our trademark for our locally designed Dazie-branded apparel in Australia.โ
The Iconic produces more than 10 exclusive brands, and began selling clothes under the Dazie brand in January 2018. It sent an infringement letter to Sheinโs lawyers, Gadens, on August 2022 for selling clothing to Australians under the name โDazyโ, which The Iconic argues is โsubstantially identical or substantially similar to the Dazie trademarkโ.
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The Australian retailer, represented by law firm Bird & Bird, is alleging it has suffered loss and damage from profits Shein made that they were not entitled to.
Fashion retailers around the world have watched their sales undercut by the Singapore-based e-commerce giantโs growth, which is becoming one of the most-cited reasons for business collapses (including Wesfarmersโ decision to shut down catch.com.au). Sheinโs local sales reached nearly $1 billion and the company tripled profits in 2023, with sales projected to hit and exceed $1.3 billion.
Roy Morgan data shows 2 million Australians have shopped with Shein at least once in the past 12 months, with most of them (76 per cent) repeat customers.
Shein recently overtook The Iconic in total website traffic in October last year, according to Semrush data cited in Ragtrader, but The Iconic reclaimed its title of second place in January. Myer remains the most-visited fashion site for Australians.
The matter is being heard by Justice James Stellios, who has taken over the case from Justice Michael Lee as he prepares to preside over corporate regulator ASICโs landmark trial against Star Casino.
The two parties will hold mediation discussions. If they are unsuccessful, a trial is set to begin on May 5. In a case management hearing on Monday, Sheinโs barrister proposed to delay the hearing date, which was rejected by Justice Stellios.
Sheinโs local representatives were contacted for comment.
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