Designer says vendors using Shein and Temu stole her artwork, profiting from her ideas, as she struggled to pay bills

A small business owner who claims vendors operating on Shein and Temu stole her designs said it was “heart-wrenching” to watch others profit from “the contents of (her) brain” while she struggled to pay her bills.

Lucy Raff, a 44-year-old designer, who lives in Norwich with her husband, Murray, 44, a data analyst, launched her print business, Tulastra, in February 2024, and said she quickly began selling around 50 prints a week.

One of her bestsellers was a digital sun illustration captioned “le soleil”, but by late 2024, Lucy said her designs had been “stolen” and sold by third-party vendors on Temu and Shein, causing her sales to plummet by 60%.

She claims thousands of items featuring her art had been sold without credit or compensation.

Her prints retail for between £14 and £120, and Lucy said that one item featuring her print was sold by one vendor 2,300 times on Temu. If she sold this quantity at her usual prices, she said, she would have earned around £32,200.

Upon being notified of the infringing activity, Shein and Temu removed the designs from their sites in September 2025, but Lucy remains anxious about it happening again and urges shoppers to support independent businesses, especially during the Christmas season.

Lucy told PA Real Life: “I put so much care into my work and everything I make is made with so much intention – it’s my time and my thought process and has come from the contents of my brain.

“When someone is suddenly selling that, and they’re making money, and I’m left wondering how I’m going to pay my bills … it’s really difficult.”

Lucy launched her print business, Tulastra, in February 2024, naming it after her dog, Tula, and her degree in astrophysics, having previously worked as a jewellery designer.

Lucy described her prints as “quirky” and aimed at people who are “a little bit weird” and “prefer being at home”.

Each of her prints takes anywhere from four hours to a week to complete, and her creative process typically begins with a sketch on paper, which she then recreates digitally on Procreate before refining the final design.

Soon after launching, she said she was selling around 50 prints a week through her website, Not On the High Street, and via wholesale.

She said: “It was reassuring because, obviously, it’s scary to set up a new business, and to put yourself out there!”

From the very beginning, prints featuring floral and celestial designs proved popular, but one of her best-selling pieces was a sun illustration with the caption “le soleil”, which is French for “the sun”.

That print, launched in mid-2024, was selling “very quickly” – however, later that year, Lucy said she noticed sales had suddenly dropped by 60%.

“I got DMs from people saying that they saw my print on Temu and Shein,” Lucy recalled.

“People just started sending me these screenshots, and then lo and behold, my own print got advertised to me on a T-shirt, on Facebook.

“It was such a weird, out-of-body experience – I thought: ‘I never put that on a T-shirt,’ and that’s when you realise that that’s not yours.

“That was heart-wrenching.”

From a business perspective, Lucy said she also found it difficult that she did not receive compensation or credit for her work.

She added: “A vendor on Temu had sold 2,300 items of my print and if I’d sold that number of my own prints for £14, at my cheapest price … I would have made £32,200.

“Knowing that sort of money has been generated … is heart-breaking, but I’m also not alone in it, it’s such a huge problem for small businesses.

“People need to know that when they’re shopping on these kinds of platforms, if something’s super, super cheap, it means that somewhere there’s an artist paying the price for that.

“When these vendors take those ideas and they profit from them, they’re not only profiting from someone else’s work, they’re reducing it to something that’s disposable and it just makes me really sad and frustrated to see this happening.”

However, after the infringing activity was reported to them, in September 2025, Temu and Shein removed the designs.

“I’m so worried about it happening again. I feel like I’m just waiting to see it pop up again,” she said.

In light of the “theft”, she is yet to take any further steps to prevent plagiarism.

Lucy explained: “I know a lot of artists, for example, put watermarks on their work so it can’t be screenshotted.

“I probably should put watermarks on there, but I don’t want to, just out of principle.”

Looking ahead, Lucy said she is “very worried about Christmas”, as she fears more people will buy from third-party sellers operating on sites such as Shein and Temu.

“I realise obviously a lot of people are struggling financially, it’s a tricky time with the cost of everything going up, but I would ask people to think thoughtfully about what they’re buying,” she added.

“I think Christmas, and present buying in general, should be a time where you buy something that you have a connection to, or can be personalised.”

A Temu spokesperson said: “Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention.

“The notice was flagged to us on September 18, where we promptly removed the product in question and added the artist’s designs to our IP database for proactive monitoring.

“Temu safeguards thousands of brands through a combination of automated detection and manual review.

“We welcome rights holders to register their brand assets with us to enhance screening and to submit takedown requests through our IP protection portal.”

A Shein spokesperson said: “Shein takes all claims of infringement seriously, and all Shein vendors are required to comply with our stringent IP policies including certifying that their products do not infringe third-party IP.

“We also provide various avenues for customers and IP rights holders to report concerns to ensure that any issues can be addressed quickly and transparently.

“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, as we have done in this case.

“If a violation is confirmed, Shein will take appropriate action against the vendor of said products.”

Lucy is now working in collaboration with Not On the High Street, following the company’s latest research which found that nine in 10 small digital businesses have had their products or designs stolen.

To support other independent businesses, Not On The High Street has launched an advice hub offering guidance for small business owners.

For more information, visit: www.notonthehighstreet.com/campaign/protectyourbrand.