Published
Feb 8, 2018
Reading time
2 minutes
Download
Download the article
Print
Text size

Indian designer Ragini Ahuja accuses French label Antik Batik of design copying

Published
Feb 8, 2018

Following on from the recent People Tree and Christian Dior media storm, the Indian fashion designer Ragini Ahuja has accused Antik Batik of stealing one of her designs.

Ragini Ahuja has accused Antik Batik of plagiarism - Ragini Ahuja


Ragini Ahuja, who recently showed her latest collection 'Ikai' at Lakmé Fashion Week a week ago, has claimed that the French designer label Antik Batik has stolen one of her designs.

“One of my closest friends stumbled across the brand’s Instagram pictures of the Kaari style that is a blatant copy of our bell sleeve appliqué Kameez from Spring-Summer 2017,” Ahuja told the fashion and beauty site I Diva. "The collection was showcased at Amazon India Fashion Week, New Delhi in October 2016.”

The design in question by Ahuja is a kurta style top featuring a striking floral motif and the design from Antik Batik is a shorter top however, both the tailoring and motif appear to be the same.

“We work painstakingly on our artworks each season and it is extremely hurtful and damaging to see our hard work being unapologetically stolen by brands established for so long,” said Ahuja.

Gabriella Cortese from Antik Batik responded to Ahuja’s claims and part of the message said: “We are currently trying to understand what happened in the design process. Naturally, we are taking down the Kaari style from our website and social networks.”
Although this response did not satisfy Ahuja, who posted Cortese's response herself, steps are being taken to resolve the issue, which has not happened in the People Tree and Christian Dior case as yet.

As intellectual property laws become more well known in India and social media allows designs to be showcased to a worldwide audience at the click of a button, it is likely that more such cases will emerge.

However, it is also likely that more cases will be brought against Indian manufacturers for taking designs from international and other Indian designers as well. 

Copyright © 2024 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.