Designer waiting for Dior reply

Delhi-based brand seeks redress after complaints of plagiarism, says Sonam Kapoor’s dress a blatant copy

People Tree designer and co-founder Orijit Sen is still waiting to hear from Dior on plagiarising his around ten-year-old motifs for a dress which actress Sonam Kapoor has worn for the cover shoot of a lifestyle magazine. He is even keeping his legal recourse open. “I am thinking of sending them a letter, giving them  a period within which to respond. I have sought an apology  and compensation for illegally copying our designs.”

Sonam is seen adorned in a boho-chic dress with the controversial print. The vibrant dress in rustic shade was paired with a frilled multi-coloured patchwork shrug. While initially it garnered a positive response, later on allegations of “blatant plagiarism” made the dress and its designer, Christian Dior, an internet buzz.

Sen first made these allegations on his social media account where he shared the post with Gurpreet Sidhu, supposedly an ex-worker at the firm, and Pakhi Sen, another associate of the brand. The shared pictures showed uncanny similarities between the brand’s design and the design on the Dior dress worn by Kapoor.

Sen claimed that the handmade blocks were created many years ago by the people working for the brand. Later on, he even shared an image of the original blocks which were used for printing many years ago. They have tagged it with their statement:  “What a bankruptcy of imagination for a company that has the resources and designers Dior has!”

Has anybody from Dior tried contacting him yet? Says Sen, “The campaigning has been put on facebook and Dior has been tagged in it and  in the responses a couple of times. So I think it has come to their notice as well.”

Sen is aware of copyright issues and says while a general motif cannot be claimed as original, its individualistic style and interpretation didn’t warrant imitation. “The original design was created in early 2000 in which two people were depicted performing yoga. Besides the asana postures, there was a lotus flower printed between the two figures. Ours is hand-crafted while Dior’s is printed. However, the motif has the exact same pattern.”

Sen is in touch with lawyers but is first looking for a response. “If a response isn’t forthcoming, then I might take the action forward in court. I think a lawyer would  know what kind of compensation to expect and acknowledgment to give.”

Photographer Dayanita Singh, too, responded to the allegations against Dior, siding with the brand through a social media post, “Shocking that Dior would copy People Tree.”

Many big names from the fashion industry have slammed Dior for the act — Raw Mango has called the act unfortunate while Rimzim Dadu has found it appalling, as mentioned in the comment section of her post.

Plagiarism has always been the fashion industry’s dark secret but in recent years it has taken a massive form with allegations. Recently Gucci’s Cruise 2018 collection was under the scanner as the Italian brand was accused of blatantly copying the designs by two separate designers — Stuart Smythe and Milan Chagoury. We tried reaching Dior but hadn’t heard from them at the time of going to press.