Yahoo Finance 10 times fashion watchdog Diet Sabya called out celebrities for their fashion rip-offs
Karishma Kapoor, who will return to acting after a long hiatus with the AltBalaji and Zee5 web series, Mentalhood, was recently pulled up by fashion watchdog Diet Sabya for wearing a moon-print suit by Never Fully Dressed, allegedly inspired by Marine Serre’s crescent moon designs.
While plagiarism in the fashion world has been around for quite a while, social media has made it possible to call out copycats. Diet Sabya, the Indian version of the international fashion police, Diet Prada, is an anonymous Instagram account that has made outing celebrities and designers who flaunt collections that are copied from other designers, their mission. With #gandi their hashtag, Diet Sabya’s sharp lookout spares no designer, celebrity or editor who dares to blatantly copy other Indian and international designs. The account also has many celebrity followers from Sonam Kapoor and Alia Bhatt to designer Anaita Shroff Adajania.
We take a look at all the times that celebrities and designers have been at the receiving end of Diet Sabya’s criticism.
Ananya Pandey and Nauman Piyarji: The actress and her stylist were called out by Diet Sabya for flaunting a copy of a dress by Casey Cadwallader, the Creative Director of Mugler. Ananya Pandey had worn the pink blazer skirt dress by Nauman Piyarji while promoting her film, Pati Patni Aur Woh. Other users took the trolling forward and accused the actress of promoting plagiarism.
Kiara Advani and Daboo Ratnani: While celebrity photographer Daboo Ranani’s calendars are known to create quite a hype, this one courted controversy as netizens pointed out the similarities between a photograph featuring Kiara Advani covered with a leaf and one by international photographer Marie Barsch. Diet Sabya was also quick to wade into the controversy when it posted the pictures side by side, welcoming followers to discuss on it. Ratnani responded to the plagiarism allegations by saying that he had copied himself as he had done a similar photo shoot with Tabu in 2001. Kiara, on the other hand, said that she found the memes funny and even flattering.
Kareena Kapoor Khan and Raghavendra Rathore: Like her sister, Kareena Kapoor Khan also became a target of Diet Sabya when she wore a royal blue bandhgala suit while promoting her film Good Newzz in 2019. The fashion watchdog posted her picture along with that of a similar 2015 creation designed by Jason Wu for Hugo Boss’ Fall/Winter show. While many criticised the actress and designer for the copy, others pointed out Rathore had, in fact, made the bandhgala fashionable.
Alia Bhatt and Filmfare: Diet Sabya called out Alia Bhatt and Filmfare for a March 2019 magazine cover and accused them of copying of an ad shoot for Pepe Jeans, featuring English singer, songwriter and model, Dua Lipa. Refuting the claims, Bhatt, who follows Diet Sabya’s account, clarified that she had shot for the cover on the 6th of February 2019. “If I am not mistaken, the apparent reference was only uploaded on the 24th of Feb. Not to go all True Detective on you guys but give a girl some credit. Toodles,” she wrote.
Jahnvi Kapoor and House of Exc: Diet Sabya was at it again when Jahnvi Kapoor shared a photograph on Instagram which showed her wearing a white feathered dress by the Belgian fashion house, House of Exc. The fashion watchdog account posted the picture of Kapoor alongside one of a model wearing a similar creation by Mihano Momosa in 2017, calling it a #gandi copy.
Sanya Malhotra and Madison on Peddar: This was a blatant copy. Sanya Malhotra and Madison on Peddar were pulled up for a polka-dotted jumpsuit that she wore, which was a complete rip off from Australian clothing shop Sheike. Diet Sabya wrote, “When #gandicopies happen to good people. Sorry @sanyamalhotra_ but this #madisononpeddar jumpsuit is a blatant rip-off of @sheikeandco.” Malhotra, however, took it sportingly and replied, “I know I should not be so glad, but I am too excited about my DietDebut. Thanks for calling me a good person.”
Rani Mukherjee and P.A.R.O.S.H: This was not about plagiarism, but Diet Sabya had a word of advice for Rani Mukherjee - fire her stylist for the look that she sported on the red carpet during the recent Mumbai police event, Umang 2020. Her head-to-toe glittery golden ensemble by UK brand P.A.R.O.S.H took bling a bit too far and did nothing to flatter the Bong beauty.
Yami Gautam and Hema Kaul: The fashion watchdog slammed Yami Gautam for sporting a fake Dior dress. Designed by Hema Kaul, the rip off was similar to the original in terms of colour, fabric, cuts and fabric. Calling out Gautam and the stylist, Diet Sabya wrote, ““Stylist: What do you want? Celebrity: Bella Hadid from Bandra! Stylist: Say no more @bellahadid in @dior; @yamigautam in rip-off @hemakaullabel styled by @aasthasharma.”
Sunny Leone and Archana Kochhar: Yet another blatant copy in 2018 was Sunny Leone’s black bodycon dress designed by Archana Kocchar. The dress was an exact replica of the original one by Versace worn by American model Gigi Hadid. Diet Sabya captioned the photograph, “When bad copies happen to good people.”
Kriti Sanon and Deme by Gabriella: Among the first copycat designs to be called out by the fashion watchdog was this canary yellow dress worn by Kriti Sanon, designed by Deme by Gabriella. Diet Sabya, rather unflatteringly, called the owner of the clothing line, Gabriella Demetriades, a “former Miss IPL contestant and now barely-there-fashion-designer who loves her celebrity clients and ripping off Project runway designers.”
