Fashion brand Gul Ahmed accused of plagiarism by a local artist

Local artist Shehzil Malik, whose art advocates for rights of women, has accused popular fashion brand Gul Ahmed of copying her artwork without consent in its latest summer collection.

“One is literally my display picture on their kurta, the other is my ‘Brown is Beautiful’ artwork,” she wrote in her post on Facebook.

Expressing her disappointment over this illegal act by such a well-reputed brand, Malik said that she was at a loss.

Are these design teams not aware that they are stealing from a local artist? Malik questioned the brand’s design team in her post.

Malik had also shared pictures of her artwork that was plagiarised along with the designs by the brand on Insta’s story as evidence of her claim.

Later, Gul Ahmed posted on an apology over the matter through its Facebook page.

“GulAhmed has become aware that an illustration by Shehzil Malik was used as part of our collection. Our designer has admitted his honest error and the company is taking necessary disciplinary action,” the post said.

“Gul Ahmed greatly respects intellectual property rights. We have immediately removed the design from our collection and are attempting to contact the designer,” the post added.

A prompt apology by the brand was indeed a great move and now it seems the brand will contact the artist and sort this matter out with mutual consent.