Gavin Rajah denies copying Lebanese designer’s work

Renowned fashion designer Gavin Rajah is pulling out all the stops to clear his name, after claims he had copied a dress designed last year by Lebanese designer, Zuhair Murad.

Rajah has also hinted that he would never participate in Fashion Week again. On social media, many commented that Rajah’s dress, which was shown at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Cape Town on Thursday bore a striking resemblance to that of Murad’s.

Independent producer of fashion events, Sim Tshabalala, is the one who made the connection and posted an image of the dress on Facebook.

Tshabalala’s post with the heading “breaking news” compared the dresses of the two designers. “There can’t be a fashion week without drama – who did it better lol – was this a colab design? – hell no,” Tshabalala’s post read.

Pictures: GraziaDressAU blue bridesmaid dresses

In his defence, Rajah produced sketches of the entire design process, a document detailing the inspiration behind the design and claims he had never seen Murad’s dress before.

He said his design was inspired by the Japanese fans and the rising sun which is why he named his dress The Rising Sun Fan Dress.

“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.”

To prove his case, Rajah is currently hosting journalists in his studio to view the creative process that he says led to the design.

“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,” Rajah said.

Yesterday, The New Age learnt that Rajah’s lawyers had sent a letter to Tshabalala asking him to withdraw statements he made about the dresses on his Facebook page. When contacted for comment, Tshabalala said he has been advised by his lawyers “not to talk about the matter for the time being.”

Last year, Rajah was embroiled in another plagiarism scandal after he claimed that he had co-developed a special technique from ostrich leather fabric with Klein Karoo International.

The fabric led to a dress designed by Rajah winning Most Beautiful Object in South African award at the Design Indaba.

Klein Karoo International’s general manager Charl du Plessis denied co-developing the metallic finish on ostrich leather design with Rajah, claiming he was the one who approached them nine years ago and expressed interest in the work.

The feuding over the fabric escalated when Cape Town designer and fabric shop owner Paul van Zyl laid claim to it.