American clothing brand selling Ajrak patterned top, faces backlash
An American based brand selling a top patterned with the Sindhi Ajrak style, has faced a serious backlash on social media.
The New York based fashion house Sea is selling a top inspired from Ajrak, naming ut ‘Ezri Sleeveless Top’ and describing its colour as ‘Brick Multi’.
Taking inspiration from traditional Sindhi Ajrak print, the fashion brand misrepresented the pattern, describing it as the French print and chose not to acknowledge the rich culture of the land of Sindh.
The top on the retail websites is being sold for a hefty Rs 47,000.
A number of Pakistanis have raised their concerns for the misrepresentation of the pattern and credit. A sad reality is that these kinds of western fashion houses take inspiration from the east, launch popular fashion lines without giving the due credit to the origins and simply damage the sanctity of eastern culture.
People on social media expressed their anger and raised voiced against the clothing brand.
“Hi Sea New York. This is not a ‘brick multi”, it’s Sindhi Ajrak from the land of Sindh, Pakistan. We’re not very happy that you’ve used this cloth to make a top without acknowledging the origin of the cloth, or where you sourced it from.”
Hi Sea New York. This is not a "brick multi", it's Sindhi ajrak from the land of Sindh, Pakistan. We're not very happy that you've used this cloth to make a top without acknowledging the origin of the cloth, or where you sourced it from. pic.twitter.com/Fp7zuBCpL5
— Bina Shah (@BinaShah) April 7, 2019
Pakistan People’s Party Senator Sherry Rehman in a disbelief tweeted about the issue:
“Why is this New York fashion brand selling Ajrak designs as ‘brick multi’? Dear @Seafashion you need to acknowledge and not scavenge a signature historical motif of Pakistan without acknowledging inspiration source!”
