- Sneakerheads on social media accused fast fashion giant Shein of selling fake Air Jordans.
- The knockoff sneakers were listed for less than $50 and came in several colorways.
- Shein has since removed the listings, but the same shoes are still available on Temu.
Sneakerheads were quick to call out fast fashion giant Shein for having fake Air Jordans on its site, as TMZ first reported late last month.
But on Temu, a bargain Chinese shopping app, similar Air Jordan knock-offs are proliferating, as both sites struggle to audit their third-party sellers.
In one TikTok video, a creator highlighted several images taken from Shein's site showing sneakers that look very similar to Jordans, but without the signature Jumpman logo associated with the Nike brand sneakers. The knockoff sneakers were listed for less than $50 and came in several colorways including the concord, bred, and space jam.
Soon after people brought up the issue on social media, Shein removed the fake sneaker listings. The company provided the following comment to Insider: "Shein takes all claims of infringement seriously and we have removed the product in question. Third-party sellers are required to comply with our Shein marketplace policies and certify their products do not infringe IP."
However, similar sneakers are still available on the ecommerce site Temu, which has grown in popularity as an online dollar store. When Insider searched the site for "Air Jordans," it returned more than 1,000 results which included several similar styles.
One pair, described as a "men's knitted Air-cushioned" sneaker, is adorned with a figure nearly identical to Nike's Jumpman logo and is listed for $15.74 at the time of publication. Another pair, described as "men's retro shock absorbing basketball shoes," uses the same images in the Shein listings and is priced at $27.47.
Temu launched in September 2022 and its popularity skyrocketed to became the most downloaded shopping app in the iOS app store in November.
Temu and Nike did not respond to Insider's request for comment.
The fake Jordans highlight an ongoing problem for e-commerce companies with marketplaces open to third-party vendors. While third-party sales can help bring in new revenue streams and expand quickly into new segments, these sellers are difficult to regulate.