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A border-crossing jewellery heist
It's a case involving Pakistani jewellery designer Sara Taseer Shoaib and two Indian jewellery designers, Farah Khan and Alpana Gujral, an anonymous fashion website, and a mysterious trail of clues. Instep investigates the bejeweled saga..
By Saba Imtiaz
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Online coverage of Pakistani fashion has always been abysmal at best: relegated to a few websites that post images culled from print publications as well as the official websites of the style sections of newspapers. However, recently one has seen more coverage of Pakistani fashion happening on the Internet - from the Pakistani blogosphere as well as dedicated websites. But one blog recently caused quite a stir by reporting a case of alleged plagiarism that developed into a mystery novel as opposed to an example of 'ha ha, copy cat!'
The website StyleStripped (www.stylestripped.com) mostly carries images of Pakistani designers' new collections and fashion shows, as well as does a very good job of accessory spotting: pointing out designer bags on the arms of socialites, models and designers and listing their make, brand and price. The website - the owners of which remain anonymous - has also covered alleged incidents of plagiarism by Pakistani designers in the past. However their recent allegation: that jewellery designer Sara Taseer Shoaib's Facebook group carried images of a jewellery sketch that was the exact replica of a design created by Indian jewellery designer Farah Khan unfolded rather strangely.
The images - which according to StyleStripped bore the signature of Sara Taseer - were removed from the Facebook group in a short time. In other online changes, the blog also removed Sara's surname from their original post as well.
So was the sketch really created by Sara Taseer Shoaib? What does Farah Khan - sister-in-law to Hrithik Roshan and quite popular in Bollywood circles - have to say on the subject? Instep spoke to both designers to get to the bottom of this all. |
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Farah Khan speaks out…
How did you learn about your designs being copied?
Farah Khan: "I received an e-mail from the owner of stylestripped.com informing me that my work was being out rightly copied by a Pakistani designer named Sara Taseer Shoaib and that she had in her Facebook group lifted my designs from my website (www.farahkhan.net) and made sketches of the designs and signed them to pass them off as her own. When I visited Facebook I was shocked. I couldn't believe how someone could be so stupid to plagiarise designs so openly; especially in today's world where we live in the age of the Internet and accessibility to information is only one click away. I went to her website which was under construction and was even more amused to see that she had tried to copy the animation of my website whereby my pages flip unveiling new designs. |
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"I thought I'd seen enough until I even read her profile that used the same language as mine saying she had graduated at the top of her class from GIA. I gathered information about her shop in Lahore and got her mobile number in Hong Kong where I called her. I told her that she would be receiving a legal notice from me for plagiarizing my work as my designs were copyrighted.
"At first she got very flustered and insisted on calling me back saying that she was not sure if this was a crank call. When I allowed her to call me back, she denied the allegation saying that this was the job of some hackers and that as she came from a very powerful political family in Pakistan there were many people who disliked her. I asked her to issue a statement to the press saying that the designs were mine. She told me that her father owned a newspaper in Pakistan and that she would speak to the editor and get back to me where we could both issue a common draft but we should not mention the website as then they would get unnecessary attention. I told her I would wait for her e-mail.
"In the meantime I got to know that Twitter also carried the plagiarized designs and that after talking to Sara all my designs from her Facebook group had been deleted. I also e-mailed StyleStripped and asked them to post my words on their website as the rightful owner of the designs. The person said he/she would but said as this was getting political they had removed Sara Taseer's surname from the site and that any search that contained Taseer or Shoaib would not show on the site. He/she also removed the posts that were on the site but told me to take pictures of the site before they removed the information.
"The next morning I received an email from Sara stating very generally that an unfortunate incident has happened this week between our two countries and that she and I do not subscribe to this website and that people should only read our official sites. She wanted me to add to this draft and send it back to her so that the paper's editor could reword and print it. I told her that her words sounded more political than a designer talking about plagiarisation, and that my lawyer had advised me to ask her to clarify her stand as well as asked me to approach the Pakistani and Indian media to put things on record. I can understand imitation being the best form of flattery but this is downright plagiarisation and I'm not going to be quite about it. I approached the Pakistani media so that no one does this to anyone again. I've also ignored the second e-mail she sent to me."
Following your success at the IIFA weekend in Macau, this must have come as a huge shock to you.
Farah: "I recently showcased my jewellery at the IIFAs in Macau at the fashion extravaganza where my sister Sussanne and her husband Hrithik Roshan walked the ramp for me. Bipasha Basu, Priyanka Chopra, Lara Dutta, Sushmita Sen, Kangana Ranaut, Dia Mirza, Mughda Godse, Sophie Chaudhary and Peter Andre all wore my jewellery on the famous 'green carpet'. I have built a very strong reputation in the trade based on ethics and morality and I'm not about to have somebody try to take that away from me so easily. This was a huge shock though I am prepared to fight it every step of the way."
Are your designs copyrighted? Would you consider taking the matter to a court of law if not settled otherwise?
Farah: "My designs are copyrighted and I would consider taking the matter to court. I have already asked my legal team to be ready. I want an apology from this lady whoever she may claim to be because you just do not do what she did, especially after claiming to be a creative person. The only thing creative about her is the ingenuity in how she tried to copy my designs in sketches and post them near my finished pieces so that it looks like I have ripped her off when in reality it is she who is ripping me off and trying to slander my name. If pushed I shall sue her for plagiarisation of designs, theft of intellectual property and causing disrepute to an established brand and designer." |
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Sara Taseer Shoaib offers a short comment…
What is your official take on the allegations that you have copied a
Farah Khan design?
Sara Taseer Shoaib has refused to comment on record on the allegations if stylestripped.com was being mentioned, as she believes her name gives the website 'more currency and she does not want to be associated with it'. On record, Sara has denied the allegation, and has rested the blame for the plagiarisation on the shoulders of the website, holding them responsible for having created that sketch and uploading it on the Facebook group, which at that point allowed any user to upload their own images. Sara told Instep that since this incident, she has changed the Facebook group settings to disallow people from posting images to it.
Sara: "This website has been stalking me for a while now. They have gone to my shop several times and |
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| they know the price of every item in the store. I have also received several requests for them asking for images of my jewellery which I have ignored. I also got some very strange emails from them saying that they knew who I was etcetera etcetera. |
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When I found out about the images uploaded to my Facebook group and the post on the website, I instantly made the connection that they were the ones who had done this. They have uploaded those sketches onto my Facebook group.
This website's sole purpose is to malign Pakistani designers and give them bad press. I have just done an entire expo of my jewellery in Singapore and I and other designers who take our work to all corners of the world are trying to promote a more moderate, open image of Pakistan - and this is to give us a bad name. We cannot be slaves to this anonymous, rogue website." |
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Logo larceny
Ironically enough, this isn't the first incident of plagiarism Sara Taseer Shoaib has been associated with. The June issue of Xpoze magazine carried images of the logos from Sara's website (sarataseershoaib.com) and that of Indian jewellery designer Alpana Gujral (alpanagujral.com), pointing out how it was a coincidence that both logos were so very similar. (Above: Sara's logo, Right: Alpana Gujral's logo)
When asked for a reaction to this Sara said, "I have not seen the magazine. But my logo is not a copy, it was created in Pakistan. And that's not my official logo anyway; my trademark is my name - Sara Taseer Shoaib. My logo keeps changing; earlier it was two diamonds together. And my website is still under construction."
Indian jewellery designer Alpana Gujral believes that the logo has plagiarised. In a phone conversation she told Instep: "It is a complete copy. She has used the whole essence of my logo. And I definitely plan to go to the Indian press to show how people are copying so blatantly."
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It's not so elementary, Watson:
While the jewellery sketches is a mysterious case where one can't prove it's a clear-cut incident of plagiarism or not, the logo definitely appears to be a little too inspired. The fact remains though, that while jewellery designs are copied worldwide, this has hit home particularly hard. Those looking across the border for inspiration would well be advised that it may not be that easy to get away with such stunts and those making allegations should try and find indelible proof before they cause a war of words.
Style Stripped did not respond to a request to be interviewed for this article.
- With additional reporting by Yusra Askari for Farah Khan's interview |
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