Safir is on the board of the Fashion Design Council of India. If you ask me, I feel that copyright issues must be addressed in fashion and design schools so students can understand the concept of design.Copycats & CopyrightSafir feels that some designers are penny wise, pound foolish, as they don’t understand the importance of IPR.“I think being in the fashion world what is most important is originality. If you see Ralph Lauren has made his horses bigger to stop counterfeiting. You have to apply for protection first and it shouldn’t be in public domain, plus, designers make so many clothes all year round, they can’t foretell what will work. He has helped many designers like Gaurav Gupta and Rajesh Pratap Singh to copyright their designs to counter plagiarism. And the frontrunner of this campaign has been Sabyasachi Mukherjee.“Since then, it has been copied by every brand possible. The key to solve this is sticking to your signature and evolving it with time,” he explains.

Most of them have promised never to do it again. He allegedly went to court against an ethnic wear firm and won the case.“When you are an important voice and a power brand, plagiarism comes with the territory” — Sabyasachi Mukherjee“Social media has helped this cause enormously as you have evidence which is seen by millions.

“Then there is The RFID tag is sewn into a bag or clothing and buyers can use their phone to scan the tag for verification,” explains Safir. He has mentioned about the countless hours he and his team put in to get the pattern, forms and prints right. After all, imitation really isn’t the sincerest form of flattery!. We are doing that by launching our new menswear bridge to luxury brand by opening two such flagship stores in Delhi in March 2020,” says Shantanu. As a precautionary measure, we have undertaken legal remedies.Ideas can’t be copyrighted and in India, design laws are not stringent in terms of addressing plagiarism.Fashion Design Blue Panax Denax Beach Wool faux fur fabric Council of India, chairman Sunil Sethi has seen many such incidents take place and often tries in his personal capacity to soothe many a ruffled feathers by inviting both warring parties to negotiate.Seeing the uproar that such incidents create whether it is Samant Chauhan vs Rohit Bal or Anamika Khanna’s young boys Viraj and Vishesh, who were in the eye of a storm, many have decided to take the legal recourse to ensure their designs remain unique.“There is a lack of awareness in the fashion world.In fact, many celebrities and designers religiously follow these virtual watchdogs to avoid fashion faux pas and check if their designs are being copied.

In terms of silhouettes, you can’t claim copyright. In fact, we have summoned the culprits with cease and show cause notices in many cases.Fashion vanguardWhile plagiarism of designs is a serious concern across the world and many designers vent their distress on social media, there are some self-appointed couture watchdogs like Diet Prada and Diet Sabya to name a few, who call out fakes and expose the copycat culture in the fashion world with cheeky captions and photos.Drapes & DupesPlagiarism and counterfeiting in the fashion world is a deep-rooted problem and Shantanu and Nikhil Mehra have been victims of counterfeiting. Coca-Cola has worked with Visualead to start Visual QR Codes and it allows customers to verify its authenticity by simply scanning the code. Four years ago when they introduced it, their style became a fresh take in Indian occasion wear for men. After the notices, we as a team constantly monitor the culprits. Tod’s protected the dots at the back of the shoes and Burberry protected the ‘check’ as a trademark not a design,” says Safir. The best way to counter the counterfeiting market is to have your own affordable ready-to-wear brand that is scalable to every city in the country. As this is a creative effort however, I feel sometimes one tends to over step that line between inspiration and being too inspired, rocking the already fragile boat. There are many cases of alleged pilferage and one has to be equipped to understand if it is plagiarism or inspiration,” says Samant Chauhan.“They haven’t been defined in a way where one can make a case. There are basic silhouettes and one improvises as a designer and that’s where creativity lies. They don’t realise that they need to protect their designs, considering the rampant copying that exists,” says Safir, who has worked internationally with brands like Hermes and Louis Vuitton. The duo has been synonymous with drapes in Indian menswear with military chic details and minimalist structure