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Designers open up about fashion industry’s intellectual property crisis
Prerna Gauba Sibbal
At the beginning of this week, news about Italian fashion house Versace suing Fashion Nova, a fast fashion retailer in California was floating on the internet. The fashion house was taken aback when they saw the website allegedly selling a knockoff of their iconic Jungle dress that Jennifer Lopez wore at Grammy’s in 2000 and again at Milan Fashion week showcase in 2019. After the Milan showcase, the burgeoning retail space took over the garment and ironed out a battery of copies that were selling on e-commerce sites. A 35-page complaint was filed by the brand in a Californian court, seeking a trial to stop Fashion Nova from selling the clothes — the list of garments included many other designs.
In the past, there have been countless culprits that surfaced in the public sphere, thanks to social media. In fact now, many social media accounts are archiving uncredited ‘inspired’ pieces. Over the country, fashion houses, mass market stores, such as Chandini Chowk and small-time designers have been feeding off other designer’s work by making cheaper knockoffs as low as half the original price. “It’s very easy to say that it is inspired, in such a case creativity and originality of a designer goes for a toss,” says Sunil Sethi, chairman of FDCI. Many a times, the buyer is unaware of the fact that he or she is buying a copied design. “A bride tagged me on Instagram wearing my outfit. But I never made that lehenga in that colour. I told her the same on Instagram, and she replied saying, she picked it up from an exhibition in
London which said it was mine.
What can I do now?
It’s a double-edged sword. To reach out, we need to promote the garments, which is how small time designers pick it up,” says designer Suneet Varma. And designer Rimple Narula adds, “Many don’t even make an effort to create samples, they take my images from Instagram and advertise them to create copies.”
Designer Nachiket Barve suggests retailers should also be mindful. “This is like an identity theft. Our designs are our identity. There are many buyers who will never buy a copy however some don’t care,” says Barve, adding, “When a store stocks a designer wear, they should ensure that they aren’t copies.”
While many designers choose to remain silent about these copies, a few of them call out. In the past, designer Rohit Bal accused designer Seema Mehta and Samant Chauhan for blatantly coping his embroidery and silhouettes. Designer Anupama Dayal accused W for Women, Vero Moda was called out for a Rahul Mishra rip-off, Wendell Rodricks accused Payal Khandwala for using his pleating technique, and Tarun Tahiliani and Suneet Varma have called out others for copying their designs.
Internationally, Giorgio Armani and Vivienne Westwood accused Dolce & Gabbana of copying, Roberto Cavalli has outraged Michael
Kors many times, and Balmain was accused of ripping off Givenchy’s white couture piece. Christian Louboutin filed complaints against YSL for taking their trademark red under-sole; even Jeremy Scott was accused of plagiarism by many artists. Last year, Cimone accused Oscar de le Renta for using a similar design from them.
Now, Indian designers are looking for strict code of ethics. “The laws are not in place. I fought a battle for 11 years; a designer copied my designs for a movie and took credit for them. After I won the case, all I got was an apology! A designer spends a lot of time, energy and money to make a collection. We market it and someone just picks it up and uses it, so all the effort goes waste; it’s a financial loss. However, now I don’t care because the action is nothing.
If I spot some copy on social media, I block them and beyond that I can’t do anything. I’m busy making new collections,” says Varma. Similarly, Narula also sees copies of her deigns floating around but chooses to hush away. “The court can’t be prejudiced; it’s stealing someone’s intellect. There has to be a body to ensure that the law is adhered to. We need stricter laws when it comes to trademarks and plagiarism. I would definitely file complaints if I knew that a grave action would be taken,” adds Narula.