Copies of the garb worn by global leaders at this week's APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Beijing are sold online. [Wang Zhuangfei / China Daily]

The company is one of the two authorized clothing suppliers for the genuine "APEC leader suit". It produced 5,000 meters long silk and damask fabric rolls for producing the official suits.

"The damask texture has not been marketed. It was only exclusively used for the APEC meeting custom-made clothes," said Kou.

He said, however, he did not mind the knock-offs sold online, which only mimic the outer design.

Song Huizhou, one of the 12 selected fashion designers for the leaders's suits, does not mind the widespread clones either.

"Fashion design is a collected wisdom. It is not like a trademark product," she said.

Zhang Zhifeng, brand founder and art director of NE Tiger, the company authorized to make the female leaders' long embroidered buttoned jackets for the APEC gathering, called the suit "New Chinese Clothing" style, blending traditional Chinese clothing culture with new art and production technology.

"Knock-offs cannot be a real challenge to good fashion design. In the fashion world, it is common to see something getting imitated instantly," he said.

Zhang told Xinhua he believes people's love of the "New Chinese Clothing" fashion is a sign of national self-confidence and an acknowledgement of the country's own fashion products.

A total of 71 firms, 259 designers and 18 higher-learning institutes put forth bids to make the 2014 APEC leaders' suits, which started from December 2013. The final draft design was decided in September.