Sana Safinaz Spring/Summer collection 2017 is under fire, and for all the right reasons. A blue and white lawn number bears an uncanny resemblance to Pronovias’ design for their cocktail dress and mother of the bride gown in 2015. Pronovias is a Barcelona based clothing brand that designs wedding and cocktail dresses. Plagiarism is disrespectful, especially in the fashion world. We are quick to point out every instance where a foreign designer commits ‘cultural appropriation’ by drawing inspiration from traditional designs, but we hardly ever notice the blatant plagiarism that goes on in Pakistan. Sana Safinaz has copied the exact same print as Pronovias for their S/S ’17 collection, and they made sure that they picked a less popular design so it won’t be all that easy to find. Pronovias’ work is showcased on runways, and it probably took a lot of effort plus hundreds of man hours to come up with it. Sana Safinaz has shown palpable disregard for another artist’s hard work, only to peddle it as a mass-manufactured product mostly meant to be worn by obscenely rich women who want to wear it as part of a gluttonous trend to own the latest ‘jora.’
They might even get away with it, since most people won’t even know what Pronovias is, but that does not make their plagiarism any less heinous. Stealing another artist’s work, only to have thousands of unsuspecting women wearing the same damn thing, is it really worth it? Not only that, Sana Safinaz appears to be a repeat offender as there have been previous instances where people have accused them of plagiarizing other brands/designers’ ideas. This whole ‘lawn fever’ is getting out of hand, every brand wants to do outdo other brands by any means possible, which sadly includes resorting to plagiarism. Apparently ‘creativity’ is no longer a valid or acceptable thing for designers, since almost every lawn suit looks nearly identical, with minor changes here and there. I can’t be the only one sick of seeing the same old floral, baroque, scenery, embroidery or whatever it is that these brands decide to upchuck for their collections. Everything. Looks. The. Same. Sana Safinaz’ attempt at standing out and doing something different has basically blown up in their face, and someone needs to tell them that copying someone else’s design is not the same as being ‘creative’ or different. You’re not a special little snowflake, just an art thief.
Kluchit Staff
Ameera Mehmood