In honor of celebrating my birthday AND the one-year anniversary of my very first design patent, I wanna give a very special shoutout to SHEIN.

Yeah, you read that right. We give credit where credit is due, right?

If it weren’t for them stealing my Pirouette Skort design (ahem, twice), I wouldn’t have applied for my very first design patent. I wouldn’t have been granted that patent one year later, ON MY BIRTHDAY. Best gift of my life.

Two years and 499 dupes later

Receiving that patent on my birthday was like a really weird sign that I was on the right path. Since then, we’ve now taken down 393 dupes of the Pirouette Skort alone. INSANE.

Now, design patents are NOT easy to get. They’re incredibly expensive and the application process is extremely time consuming and confusing. It’s very difficult, which is why you don’t hear about many designers going this route.  That said, having a design patent is the most powerful tool I have in my pocket for protecting my rights as an independent designer.

And I’ve simply had enough of dupers. Enough. I’m so happy to share that in 2024, I was also awarded a patent on my Corset Pirouette Dress, the Superbra®, the Sklegging, and the Hiking Superskort™.

Since my last bday, we’ve now killed 499 dupes. And we’re just getting started.