Sunshine Coast clothing business owner finds rival selling her designs

A Sunshine Coast clothing brand owner and designer has taken aim at rip-offs after finding photos of her children wearing her designs on a rival site.

A clothing designer and mum-of-three says another business went too far when it used photos of her children wearing her designs to sell rip-offs online.

Ashley Reynolds started her Sunshine Coast clothing business, Salty Shreds, in 2018 when her firstborn was six months old.

She said it was a brand created from a love of surfing and skateboarding, started while she was on maternity leave because she was determined not to work for someone else.

The owner and designer said other businesses had copied her brand’s designs, slogans and artwork in the past.

“I generally just turn my head and choose to ignore it, and you just have to kind of block it out,” Mrs Reynolds said.

The original photo of Salty Shreds owner and designer Ashley Reynolds' children Ziggy, 2, Ocean, 1, and Bryxton, 4 wearing her clothing brand. Picture: Contributed

“But in this case it was different.

“Another Queensland business was selling a product I created.

“I’m not just talking about a garment design or shape as that’s just something that you can’t control, and with fashion and product there’s always going to be the same-shaped tees, shorts, boards, whatever you choose to create and depending on what’s trending.

“I’m referring to the actual hand-drawn artwork. An exact replica of the product, cheaply made, with a generic Chinese label on it.”

The designer said she made contact with the woman who was selling them, but the other woman denied knowing about it.

Salty Shreds owner and designer Ashley Reynolds with her children, Bryxton, 4, Ziggy, 2, and Ocean, 1. Picture: Contributed

“She removed them from her site, and gave me all details of the Chinese company that was selling them,” Mrs Reynolds said.

“That’s when I found not only the product but my photos, the whole lot, among some other small businesses.”

Mrs Reynolds, who shares aspects of her life and parenthood among her clothing designs on social media, also found photos of her daughters among the clothing rip-offs online.

A Salty Shreds hand-drawn design on women’s pants. Picture: Contributed

“I don’t think I’ve ever felt so angry,” she said.

Mrs Reynolds contacted the Chinese site and made an Instagram reel and the photos of her children were removed.

She said all her designs were hand-drawn to ensure they were one-of-a-kind and her lifestyle and parenting style were part of her brand.

“People contact me or stop us daily at our local beach to thank me for showing them how its all doable, for inspiring them to get out and about with their kids and not be locked inside battling that kind of anxiety that motherhood can bring,” she said.

Originally published as Sunshine Coast clothing business owner finds rival selling her designs