A major clash has erupted in the activewear industry as indie brand Popflex accuses established giant Gottex of stealing its patented Pirouette Skort design, igniting a high-stakes battle over intellectual property rights.
The dispute centers on Gottex’s “Tutu Skort”—a lookalike product that has appeared on prominent retail shelves at Nordstrom, TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and Bealls Florida.
The Allegation: A Viral Skirt, A Viral Lawsuit
Popflex, founded by pilates influencer and designer Cassey Ho (widely known as Blogilates), erupted onto social media after discovering that Gottex’s Tutu Skort bore striking similarities to her own patented Pirouette Skort—a design that gained viral fame when Taylor Swift was spotted in it.
Not only did Gottex allegedly copy the silhouette, waist tie, signature “tutu” overlay, and camouflaged pockets, but even the product’s colors reportedly matched Popflex’s original hues.
“Straight up on the hang tag that is attached to the dupe of my skort, it literally says, products offered by Gottex are one of a kind of creations,” said, Founder & Head Designer of Popflex, Cassey Ho.
When Ho issued a cease and desist to stop the sales, she recounts being met with fierce resistance. Gottex via legal counsel, threatened to sue her for “unfair competition” and “tortious interference”—tactics perceived as attempts to silence a small business owner who was simply protecting her intellectual property.
“It’s devastating to see months of passion and innovation reduced to a cheap imitation on a corporate shelf,” Ho shared in her public statements.
She emphasized the emotional and financial toll that design theft exacts on small creators,that patents while a powerful legal tool, don’t always deter large corporations from infringement.
In a follow up, Gottex allegedly requested Popflex to remove all defamatory remarks that Ho published and to refrain from encouraging others to defame Gottex.
In response, Ho sent a settlement proposal to stop selling the dupe, pay a fair royalty and move on.
Before a counteroffer, the lawyers for Gottex allegedly sent an NDA barring Ho from continuing to speak publicly about the situation on any social media platform and if the NDA is breached they will fine her $250,000.
In response, Ho took to social media saying, “I am not going sign your N.D.A., [Gottex] is never going to silence me and [they] can’t buy me for any amount of money.”
A Pattern of Copycats: SHEIN vs. Popflex
Popflex’s skort dispute is far from an isolated incident. Fast fashion giant SHEIN has previously been accused by Ho of not only copying her designs but also mimicking the original product’s marketing images, down to model styling and poses.
Despite a settlement and removal of the dupe from SHEIN’s site, knockoffs reappeared months later. SHEIN representatives reportedly justified their actions as legal, dismissing Popflex’s claims and suggesting absurd “do not copy” registry processes that place the burden on independent designers.
Popflex’s encounters with copycat culture reveal a broader crisis: fast fashion brands can replicate and undercut indie designs almost instantaneously, leveraging their scale to dominate listings at major retailers and drown out the original brand’s market share, all while side-stepping high pre-production and design costs.
“The [patent] application process takes a lot of time and effort, which is one reason why they are not always an option for small businesses. And as you can see, a patent doesn’t always deter a big corporation from stealing a design,” said Ho.
As the battle over the Pirouette Skort rages between Popflex, armed with a patent, and Gottex, backed by vast resources and corporate muscle, the outcome remains far from certain. With legal arguments mounting on both sides, we wait to see whether intellectual property rights will prevail against the defense and influence of a global brand.
See a running list of Popflex patents here.
