Plagiarism Is The New Fashion Trend In India

At a recent Mumbai show by Delhi-based J J Valaya, guests gasped at the designer’s collection of bejewelled, printed T-shirts—dramatically similar to the ones Tarun Tahiliani showed at India Fashion Week (IFW) in August. “A model called me just before the show, asking if I was participating,” says Tahiliani.

But Valaya says a T-shirt can belong to anyone. “Look at what happened to the short kurti after Monisha Jaising created it. Printed T-shirts are going to be a global rage soon,” he says. Valaya’s tees are made from the same factory as Tahiliani’s and are priced the same.

There’s a furore in the fraternity over increasing plagiarism. What’s worse, the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) does no more than acknowledge the replica.

Recently, department store favourites Lina Tipnis and Anita Dongre were embroiled in a copycat situation when some of Tipnis’ garments from mall Pyramid were allegedly duplicated by Dongre and sold to mall Lifestyle. “Lina has been bitching about me publicly, she wants to sell at the outlets where I do,” refutes Dongre.