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Diet Sabya’s cryptic post says this ‘designer’ sold off Indian embroideries to Armani, Balmain
Most recently, Diet Sabya put up a very cryptic post about an unnamed ‘designer’ who apparently sold off the handiwork of local embroiderers who laboured for hours over a garment, only to sell it off for a huge price to brands like Armani, Dolce and Gabbana, Balmain to name some.
Diet Sabya, the term itself elicits fear in the hearts and minds of plagiarists all around. The self-appointed Instagram-based fashion watchdog leaves no stone unturned to ensure that credit is given where it is due and that no ‘gandi’ copy of any original work ever goes unnoticed by the unbelievably sharp page, that never misses a beat. While Diet Sabya started with just fashion, clothes and design, Diet Sabya soon started to call out everyone for their complete ignorance of copyrights, from calling out T-series for apparently using musician Ritviz’s song Udd Gaye without his consent in Pati, Patni Aur Woh to dissing the rip-off Do You Love Me song in Baaghi 3, which has picked up the costumes, sets and choreography to TroyBoi’s original song by the same name. While Baaghi 3 did give credit to the original singer and songwriter of the song, René Bengali, the bass, style of music and even Disha Patani in the video was extremely reminiscent of TroyBoi’s version, in a very obvious way.
Most recently, Diet Sabya put up a very cryptic post about an unnamed ‘designer’ who apparently sold off the handiwork of local embroiderers who laboured for hours over a garment, only to sell it off for a huge price to brands like Armani, Dolce and Gabbana, Balmain to name some. The information appeared to be supplied by someone who had worked for the ‘designer’, and Diet Sabya, who absolutely loves to spill tea, put up the post in their story with no comment at all. The post read, “I used to work as the assistant designer for ******** Embroideries. They export embroideries mainly for Armani and also for D&G, Balmain and some other low key designers. If the making cost of a garment (embroidering) is Rs 1 lakh, she sells it to the client (who are these luxury designers) for Rs 3 or 4 lakhs. And they put their percentage of profit again when the garment is done.”
The post continued, “The main problem lies within the export house owners in India as well. My boss never used to care about the well being of these workers who literally make her bread and butter. She even uses to cut out the name and logo of these brands when sketches and paper patterns arrive from Italy. Unique codes were given to each designer, so that these workers won’t get to know about who they are making these embroideries for.”
The most upsetting thing about this probably is the fact that such high-end brands are using the karigari of our Indian artisans and craftsmen, and forget them getting any credit, India is not getting any credit for its craftsmanship, the embroidery that is created and originates from here is being given the name of a foreign label. And also the profit. Guts, really!
Interestingly, several times people have been given credit for their original work was plagiarised and featured on Diet Sabya, at least some watchdogs work. We wonder if anyone will come forward with the name of this unnamed ‘designer’. The fearless page has gone after the biggest names in the industry, including Manisha Malhotra, Dabboo Ratnani, Gabriella Demetriades whose brand often rips off international brands, ace couturier Raghavendra Rathore, Falguni and Shane Peacock, celebrities including Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Karisma Kapoor, Janhvi Kapoor, Ananya Panday, Shibani Dandekar, Urvashi Rautela, Rakul Preet Singh, to name a few.
Who do you think the mysterious ‘designer’ mentioned in Diet Sabya’s post is?
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