While couture calls for inspiration, goals, and idols, plagiarism or accusations of it are not a far cry in an increasingly digitised world. In a recent development designer, Farah Talib Aziz accused designer Haris Shakeel of plagiarising her work in his latest ‘Ghazal’ collection that was presented at the recently concluded Bridal Couture Week.
According to Farah Talib Aziz’s management, the Haris Shakeel outfit donned by model Sunita Marshal on the ramp is a ‘blatant copy’ of their design.
“Our work gets copied a lot but usually, I opt not to make a fuss because popular designers often get plagiarised by smaller brands. It may agitate us but we usually just take the higher road and turn the other way,” Maliha Aziz, Farah’s daughter, and Brand Manager wrote on Instagram. “However, Haris Shakeel has copied us far too many times. He may have placed this particular design on the catwalk now but pictures of it have been on his social media for some time, replicated from us.”
She alleged that Shakeel purposefully buys the dresses online in order to replicate them from head to toe. “A girl called us and asked us to make an outfit urgently. She was very upset and even though it was an extremely complicated design, I agreed,” wrote Maliha. “We made the outfit very quickly for her. A few days later, I saw it being advertised on Haris Shakeel’s page. It was a complicated design so he probably couldn’t make it on his own so he just decided to sell our original, pretending that it was his own.”
Shakeel, on the other hand, rubbished the brand’s claim, saying Farah Talib Aziz should have raised the matter when the dress was advertised on social media last year.
“You see we initially posted the outfit on our Instagram last year in November. A label that knows its ‘designs’ so well should have called us out then and there. Why wait until one walks the ramp to do all the talking and that too online?” Shakeel told The Express Tribune.
“The body-cut is different, the hem of the dress, the sleeves, the dupatta, and even the neckline is different [from Farah Talib Aziz’s dress],” Shakeel said.
“Yes, I agree the colour is the same but it’s a very common colour used in every bridal wear. Farah originally showcased an angrakha if I’m not mistaken, whereas for me it’s a pishwas. The paneling on both styles is usually the same, so I feel the claim is baseless, utterly based on spite.”
While the blame game continues, fans and regular customers of the two design labels have jumped on the bandwagon in support of their respective brands on social media.
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