Designer left shocked as rogue vendors steal work, costing business thousands of pounds

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.

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Lucy Raff, a 44-year-old designer, 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.

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.