The Resort 2015 collection he presented at AFI’s Mercedes Benz Fashion Joburg was an immaculate conception characterised by sweeping hemlines, broderie Anglaise and mesh detailing, and diaphanous fabrication. It brought the audience to their feet with wild applause.
But during the course of the weekend, images of a dress bearing a striking resemblance to one of his designs began surfacing on social media. The first was a dress worn by Reese Witherspoon to a Hollywood Bag Ladies luncheon in November last year. The second was a dress available on Net-a-Porter’s website. Described as a Lilana paneled floral-lace and mesh dress, it retails for £461 pounds (roughly R8 400). It is in fact, the same dress worn by Witherspoon and is credited to Self-Portrait label by designer Han Chong.
At last year’s Cape Town Fashion Week, Rajah was accused by Durban businessman Sim Tshababala (event producer and director responsible for events like Fashion by the Sea) of copying a design by Lebanese designer Zuhair Murad. Rajah issued a statement saying he would never knowingly plagiarise the work of another designer as this would be career suicide. ‘‘I did not copy Mr Zuhair Murad’s design, my design is my own original creation inspired by Japanese woodblock printing. The Japanese inspired theme is visible through the entire collection. I have created the design independently from inspiration sourced by Japanese themes, ranging from the rising sun to Japanese fans. The entire design process has been my own efforts in labour.” Read the story here.
We wonder what Rajah’s excuse will be this time. Pinterest? Zeitgeist? Collective consciousness? Perhaps he will announce that he will never show at fashion week again.
No comments:
Post a Comment