An ongoing feud between two fast fashion giants came to blows again this week when Temu filed a lawsuit against Shein for what it called “mafia-style intimidation.”

The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia. While both companies are Chinese-based, the suit was lodged by WhaleCo, Temu’s U.S.-based parent company, alleging that Shein has gone to great lengths to intimidate Temu employees and suppliers and interfere with the e-commerce platform’s operations.

Both brands have become huge contenders in the U.S. market since Shein’s American launch in 2019 and Temu’s in 2022. Before Temu’s expansion into the U.S. market, Shein dominated the cheap commerce space, selling clothes and lifestyle items at steeply discounted prices.

Both platforms ship items predominantly from China and generally offer very similar, if not almost identical, low-cost, trendy products. It seems a bit of healthy competition between the two was inevitable, but according to Temu, Shein has played anything but fair.

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Temu sues Shein for alleged intimidation

According to court documents, Wednesday’s lawsuit accused Shein of employing “mafia-style intimidation” tactics against Temu, alleging “malicious and unlawful conduct