Turkish content creator Turkan Atay has publicly accused renowned Pakistani fashion designer Maria B of failing to fully compensate her for a brand shoot in Turkey earlier this year.
Atay, who has over 850,000 followers on Instagram and creates Urdu-language content, claimed she was approached by Maria B’s team in 2025 to manage a location shoot in Turkey.
The agreement, she said, included a charge per outfit to cover local production costs.
Despite completing the project, Atay stated that she had received only partial payment. She alleged the brand later disputed the agreement, saying payments were usually made per social media reel and not per outfit.
“It’s been three months,” Atay said in a video message. “They’ve wasted my time, dodged complete payment, and treated me unprofessionally.”
She also accused the designer’s team of deleting prior communications after her husband attempted to mediate.
This is not the first time Maria B has courted controversy related to Turkey.
In August last year, she was embroiled in a plagiarism scandal following the launch of her "Palestine Collection."
The line featured T-shirts and lawn outfits incorporating symbolic Palestinian imagery such as the keffiyeh, watermelon motif, and the national flag.
Though intended as a gesture of solidarity, the collection quickly drew backlash for allegedly exploiting a humanitarian crisis for commercial gain.
The situation escalated when artist Leena Ghani accused Maria B of copying a specific design.
The artwork in question—featuring the map of Palestine, a child, and olive branches—was originally created by Turkish artist Hacı Balina Atölye and had appeared on the Instagram page Palestine Quebec.
As criticism mounted, Maria B responded via Instagram, admitting that the design was used “unintentionally” and citing an oversight due to the rapid pace of digital content circulation.
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