Shein: ‘My nail designs were stolen by Chinese fast-fashion firm’

A British nail artist has claimed that her designs have been stolen by fast fashion giant Shein.

You might’ve seen the headlines on some news sites – “Beauty fans go wild for £2 Shein press-on nails”.

And it’s true, some of the Chinese-owned company’s press-on nails are being sold for as little as 75p.

But Manchester-based nail designer Yan Tee was shocked to find her intricate designs on the site. 

And she says not only have the firm copied her nail art, but they’ve even taken her own Instagram pictures without permission to advertise them.

“I thought it was a joke until I clicked on the link,” Yan tells BBC Newsbeat.

“And I thought not only have they copied the design, but they’ve used the picture that I’ve taken of my clients’ hands as well.”

A Shein spokesperson told Newsbeat it “takes all claims of infringement seriously”.

“Shein respects designers and artists, and the intellectual property rights of others,” they said.

“When legitimate complaints are raised by valid IP rights holders, Shein promptly addresses the situation, and removes the product(s) from our site as a matter of caution while we investigate.”

Yan’s detailed designs have earned her almost 80,000 followers on Instagram.

“I’ve created this design for my client based on her personal taste,” the 28-year-old says.

“And so to see it literally be stolen, it feels really bad.”

Yan paints her designs on clients’ nails, natural or acrylic, herself – whereas press-on nails are plastic nails which are applied with glue. 

She’s been teaching herself since she was a teenager working in salons, and typically charges about £40 for her designs.

Yan claims that after two of her designs ended up on the site, Shein apologised and removed them both when she got in touch.

But a day later, she says one of the pictures reappeared on the site. 

“Small artists don’t have the funds to like take them to court,” Yan says.

“And I think a big part of it is that the copyright laws in China, where they’re based, are quite flexible compared to like the UK copyright laws, so they can kind of get away with it.”