Pakistani designer accused of plagiarism fires back

I also personalised the designs, says designer Nida Khurram

KARACHI: A day after fashion designer Nida Khurram’s designs came under an avalanche of criticism for plagiarising Portuguese illustrator António Soares' work, the Pakistani designer fired back claiming that her digital prints were an 'inspiration' and a 'tribute' not 'plagiarism'.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Nida clarified that she was merely drawing inspiration from illustrators from New York, London and Milan and that she "personalised the designs".

"It was not plagiarism. I only took inspiration from Fashion Illustrators as it was a tribute to them. I also personalised the designs," she said.

Portuguese illustrator Anotonio Suares, however, said in one of his Facebook posts that permission must first be sought from the owner before the design is copied in its entirety.

Nida Khurram was not of the opinion that designs should only be used after seeking permission and refused claims that she had copied the designs.

She said that "People don’t need permission from other fashion designers for taking inspiration and doing tributes. Therefore, nor did I."

Read: Portuguese illustrator 'disgusted with Pakistani copycat

When questioned about bringing Pakistan's name under scrutiny in the ever growing fashion industry, and how she was being held by many as responsible for maligning the name of the Pakistani fashion industry worldwide; the designer said, "There are people taking inspiration for all around the world from other designers. This is not new and happens everywhere. I don’t think Pakistan is being maligned."

Further, the designer has been teaching at The Asian Institute of Fashion Design and she was questioned about how she believed her former students would react to the bad publicity she clarified that she had been clear with her students from the very beginning on what she had been doing.

"Students know me and my work, I have been clear on what I am doing so did I make it clear pre-launching the collection . We don’t intend to hide or copy , instead [people should consider] it’s an honour given to the illustrators I have liked. People have less knowledge of fashion inspiration and art. It’s now in the limelight," Nida said.

We tried reaching Soares for a comment via Facebook, but were unable to get a response.