This isn’t the first time a luxury brand has been accused of copying a design from another authentic brand. We recently talked about an Instagram account, Diet Prada, which got popular by fearlessly calling out all fashion copycats. And it was a surprise to see reputed names like Dolce&Gabbana on the list. But having Dior added to a similar list is a bigger surprise, or rather shock!
Karuna Ezara Parikh, an Indian television presenter, pointed out on her Instagram through a post that Christian Dior has copied an Indian designer platform People Tree’s print in one of its outfits. And not just any outfit, it’s the dress worn by Sonam Kapoor on the Elle India’s January cover, who are probably not aware of this copycat situation. Karuna titled her post as ‘UnChristian Dior’ and wrote, “are you so bereft of ideas that you need to steal print designs from independent India designers, artists and craftspeople? Despite the massive resources at your command, do you still need to rip off from people who make original work while struggling to pay rents from month to month? Well, we think your customers, including the celebrity lady endorsing you here, ought to know just how low you can cut!”
Seeing the precise details of the print and motif, it certainly doesn’t look like a coincidence. Karuna has also shared her personal experience with People Tree as a platform. She revealed, “Right. So @PeopleTree is a store in Delhi that designs and hand-makes its own fabrics. The People Tree designers dream these prints up on their own, and painstakingly create them, often hand-painting the cloth. They are independent designers working with environmentally friendly fabrics and natural dyes. They support communities of the underprivileged and frankly, they deserve better. The person who gave the final “yes” on this fabric at @dior, @sonamkapoorand Team @Elleindiaofficial probably don’t know that this is a rip-off. But they should. Because in this day and age fashion needs to be about bigger things. Things like what People Tree stands for.”
“On a personal note – When I was 22 years old I started a small NGO in the village I live. It was called Knitwits and got together the local women of the area to knit beautiful scarves, hats and baby wear. It involved dropping material to the women who often couldn’t leave their houses, working with them on designs and later collecting finished pieces. I did not know where to sell these things for the women until someone suggested @PeopleTree. They took my stuff, they sold it, they commissioned more. Over time I began working for @LakshFarms and eventually People Tree sold the things we made there too. I have so many stories of how this little store helped women in need, Tibetan and other refugees, the underprivileged, and anyone truly struggling who required an outlet and could design something beautiful. Shame on you @Dior for not having a better system in place to ensure things like this don’t happen. Not this time though,” she added.
Artists, craftsmen and designers are not just putting their creativity, but also the learning of a lifetime in these designs. To be discouraged or to have their work copied by the established brands is rather a disheartening and immoral incident. It clearly isn’t fair for any brand to copy the work of the other, especially, a luxury brand that is globally trusted. It’s not good for designers, not good for the brands and definitely not good for brand loyalty. We hope to see an end to this process soon and kudos to Karuna for keeping such a sharp eye!
