Copycats beware!

Even those not too familiar with the world of fashion would have heard well-known designers and brands talking about their designs being lifted. Look around the city, you may also find stores dedicated to replicas or ‘first copies’ of watches, bags and what not.  

At times you would want to endorse young designers, but how do you know if their work is really their work? Diet Sabya, the Indian version of Diet Prada, has become the much-updated fashion police of the country, openly revealing emerging ‘designers’ who blatantly copy designs. This is done through its anonymous Instagram handle, which has around 86K followers and is followed and appreciated by many in the film industry as well as by designers who want to call the bluff on bad copies of their designs. We asked some renowned Jaipur-based designers what they feel about this concept. 

Go Social, Be Vocal

Designer Pallavi Jaipur, whose designs have been copied a lot in the past, believes that it is outrageous how people do it shamelessly. “These people just want to sell and there’s no proper way to accuse them legally. There’s so much of plagiarism that your designs are even being copied in the same city! It’s saddening that we don’t know what to do about it, since copyright laws not strong enough; the entire process is so taxing that you just let it be!” Pallavi opened up.

Pallavi added that the only thing one can do in this case is by going social and being vocal, just like Diet Sabya is doing. “This would at least create some awareness amongst people, since 99 per cent of their posts are copied stuff. In fact, there are some established designers who blatantly copy designs. At the same time, one gets trapped on certain occasions since there’s always some trend or other ruling the ramp. For example, if the trend of flare pants and crop tops is in, every designer will do it — so as a designer, it is not intentional in that case,” she opined. Pallavi has seen her designs being copied and seen them hanging at popular saree shops too. “I have known some of those people personally as well. Some even hire designers and tell them to just copy what they see on the internet. I am glad someone has come up with this idea, which is invisible yet visible!” she added.

It’s Only Moral Policing

Widely known jewellery designer, Sunita Shekhawat, whose designs have been copied far and wide, feels that it is something that would at least bring about awareness. She adds that it would help initiate talk and help people differentiate between the original and the copy. But she raises her point, “Nothing will change until intellectual property rights change. This is more like moral policing, which would test people’s conscience and I am very happy that something like this is actually there” She added, “Name a jeweller who hasn’t copied us! But when a jeweller of repute copies, it pinches us even more. Diet Sabya has also shared some of our pieces that have been copied.” 

An Unbiased Platform 

Menswear designer Rohit Kamra too thinks it is a great idea. “It is a good idea to keep track of people copying others’ designs, as well as the amazing excuses that those designers have like ‘my assistant must have done this’. Also, these days designs are so similar. The best thing is that even top brands are being featured there, which means it is not biased at all,” asserted the designer. Although Kamra is yet to come across a copy of his designs, he feels that there is no excuse for anybody to copy blatantly. “I think somebody sends the information, which makes it easy for the anonymous person behind Diet Sabya to do it. And obviously, he is well exposed to the national and international media. It’s crazy that no one knows who it is, while everyone is talking about it,” opined Rohit. 

Paridhi Jaipuria, who has participated in nationally renowned fashion weeks, feels that the many designers who have emerged of late only copy others’ work. “One can’t just become a designer overnight; though everyone needs some inspiration, it is always better to do original work. My inspiration comes from how I want to dress women. And, it takes time to come up with a new collection because of the same reason. Like some of them do, I cannot just come up with a new collection in every 15 days!” opened up Paridhi.