Chapter 144 Retaliation

She blended traditional Suzhou embroidery techniques with modern tailoring concepts in the collaborative collection.

The entire creative process was fully documented.

How could such a deeply original work be plagiarized?

What angered her even more was that someone anonymously reported her for copyright infringement.

It also included several pictures of clothing from a lesser-known foreign brand.

Those styles were outdated, though they shared some similarities in silhouette with her upcoming collection.

However, the materials, structure, and manufacturing process are completely different things.

Anyone with a little professional knowledge can see the difference.

However, the organizers were disrupted by this low-level tactic.

Such hostility clearly indicates premeditation.

Zhou Shufen sat in front of the computer, her mind racing.

Quickly identify potential rivals and competitors.

Ultimately, that name popped up without any surprise.

Cheng Yulu.

Former classmates, now colleagues.

They were polite to each other on the surface, but secretly they repeatedly tripped each other up.

She carefully compared the brand's design sketches again, and the more she looked at them, the more familiar they seemed.

She remembered looking at Cheng Yulu's manuscript during the last competition.

The composition is mediocre, the color scheme is conservative, and the overall style lacks distinctiveness.

However, it was precisely in several key areas that details that should not have been part of the other party's design logic appeared.

The way the collar is stitched and the angle of the cuff slits.

Even the direction of the stitches is exactly the same as in her unpublished manuscript.

At the time, she just frowned and thought it was a coincidence.

Although that person's style is generally average.

However, when her work was plagiarized that time, some alterations were made, still revealing some traces of the original.

Cheng Yulu clearly knew that directly copying the model was too risky.

Therefore, a slight adjustment was made to the design.

However, she overlooked one point: truly original design thinking cannot be hidden.

The more Zhou Shufen looked, the heavier her heart became.

This is not a simple case of borrowing.

It was a meticulously planned copying and resale.

Her ideas were given the guise of foreign brands by others.

Then it was launched to the market under the name of "international cutting-edge design".

Zhou Shufen closed the email, her brows furrowed.

She knew that responding emotionally now would only alert the enemy; she needed to first understand the complete chain of events behind it.

She didn't rush to respond.

Instead, he planned to go online to check what was going on outside.

This is not just about a controversy; it could also affect her brand strategy for the next few years.

She skillfully navigated to several international fashion news platforms she frequently used, focusing her search on the official updates of that foreign brand.

She quickly found the official forum of that foreign brand.

The latest release on the homepage is a collection of works from this controversial series.

As you scroll through the high-resolution images, the comment section becomes incredibly popular.

Many professional buyers and designers are enthusiastically discussing this "breakthrough transformation".

The previous design firm had always maintained a consistent style.

However, this new series is clearly not following the same path as before.

This is a complete departure from their previous gentle and mild style.

More importantly, this series of events received an excellent response within specific circles.

Some well-known bloggers have already begun predicting that this collection will make waves at next season's fashion week.

Moreover, the release date was a full three days earlier than her publicly announced design.

This is particularly fatal.

In intellectual property disputes, timestamps are often the most compelling evidence.

If the other party publishes a similar work first.

Even if she is the true creator, it will be difficult for her to take the initiative in public opinion.

Staring at the timestamp, Zhou Shufen let out a cold laugh.

They have such good timing; their calculations are spot on.

She closed the webpage, already mentally devising a plan.

She remained calm and composed, without any impulsiveness.

Years of industry experience taught her that the worst thing to do in a crisis is to rush into a counterattack.

She needs a chain of evidence and third-party witnesses.

What is needed is a countermeasure strategy that can convince the public.

At the same time, Cheng Yulu was sitting in front of her computer, her face full of satisfaction.

The email that popped up on the screen contained the exact same content as the one sent to Zhou Shufen.

She wrote the script herself, leaving no detail overlooked, not even the punctuation.

In the last competition, Zhou Shufen made her lose face in the industry.

The judges publicly pointed out that her work was highly suspected of being plagiarism.

This resulted in her not only failing to qualify but also being disqualified from competing for two years.

From that day on, she vowed to make Zhou Shufen pay the price.

This time, she wanted to see how the other party would turn the tables.

She carefully selected this foreign brand.

It's not about just picking any obscure little brand.

Instead, they target a user base with a certain level of loyalty.

However, they are still considered a "niche" design team in the mainstream.

A single spark can ignite a media storm.

She had contacted the brand through an intermediary several months earlier.

They provided some modified drawings under the pretext of "joint development of a concept series".

Due to business cooperation considerations, the other party did not conduct in-depth background investigations before including it in the new season's product line and releasing it on time.

With this move, Zhou Shufen's good days are over.

Cheng Yulu opened her contacts, found a contact with a hidden name, and quickly sent a message.

The other party replied in less than two minutes.

"It's all arranged. It will go live at 10 p.m. tonight. I guarantee it will be a hit."

Upon seeing the contents, Cheng Yulu's lips immediately curled up.

Wasn't Zhou Shufen trying to move towards an online strategy?

Didn't you want to be the first person in the country to make a living from this?

Fine, I'll make sure you don't get your way.

The faster she walked down this road, the harder she fell.

When building a brand, reputation is the most important thing.

Once labeled as "plagiarism".

Even if it is clarified later, it will leave an indelible stain.

Once she ruins Zhou Shufen's reputation, she can forget about making a name for herself online.

With no exposure and no orders, Zhou Shufen had no choice but to obediently return to the old path of offline workshops.

She dug out the pictures that the niche brand had posted overseas and quietly copied them back.

She just threw a small account online and thought she could use netizens' words to completely suppress Zhou Shufen.

She put several comparison pictures together and added a meaningful caption.

"What a coincidence? Similar designs came out on the same day both domestically and internationally?"

Then press the send button.

An hour later, Cheng Yulu looked at the post she had just sent and was extremely satisfied.

She hated Zhou Shufen from the bottom of her heart and was also extremely jealous of her.

In terms of design skills, Zhou Shufen is far superior to her.

In terms of vision, Zhou Shufen thought further ahead than her.

She only cared about short-term gains, while Zhou Shufen had already extended her brand strategy to international platforms.

She was determined to make Zhou Shufen suffer a major setback and ruin her reputation.

On the other side, Zhou Shufen was scrolling through her posts from a few days ago when she suddenly saw Cheng Yulu's post.

The title of that post was jarring.

She only glanced at it, but her anger flared up immediately.

A number of comments have already appeared below.

The once peaceful design community was instantly ignited by war.

Zhou Shufen was speechless. Do people really have that much free time these days?

"What are you looking at so intently? I've called you several times already."

Zhou Shufen turned around and realized that it was Guo Zhenyi who had returned.

When he heard that Zhou Shufen had been dragged into the plagiarism scandal, he immediately realized that things might not be so simple.

I tried calling and texting, but they didn't reply. The phone went unanswered.

Worried that something might have happened, he simply ran over to check on the situation.