Whose piping is it anyway?

Since then,the classic Jodhpuri bandhgala suit and the Jodhpuri breeches,also known as Jodhpurs,have come to be his mainstay. But what’s more interesting is that today,after a good 18 years,Rathore is copyrighting the classic patterns and the specific technical details that form the essence of the designs for both the silhouettes. “I want to avoid any misrepresentation,apart from bringing a certain legitimacy to the specifics of the original blueprint,” he reasons.

Elaborating on his stance,Rathore compares his case to a luxury carmaker copyrighting its detailing and style. “Anybody can make a car but you can’t copy its interiors to the T. Similarly,the bandhgala in itself is not subject to copyright but the piping and the print inside the collar,the inner design of the jacket and the Hindi label of the Raghavendra Rathore bandhgala are all covered under the copyright,” he says.

This move is also meant to stop blatant plagiarism of his designs. “I have corporatised my company and I have to promote my core product (read: bandhgalas and breeches) the right way. So when I launched my Mumbai store at the Taj Mahal hotel last month,I decided to go ahead with the copyrights,” points out Rathore. The designer believes this will set a new precedent in an industry that has seen a fair share of the “copy-paste” culture.

Designer Shane Peacock—who was “struck by the resemblance” between his rosette creation and a rosette outfit by Manav Gangwani at a fashion week four years ago—believes that copyrighting is the future. “I wouldn’t be against the idea of copyrighting my prints,the lining and other such intricate details. That is the way forward,” argues Peacock.

However,a lot of designers are not in agreement with Rathod and Peacock. So while Arjun Khanna concedes that both Indian and international fashion are victims of plagiarism,he doesn’t believe that copyrighting will solve the problem. “More often than not,I have seen my designs copied. I have seen both Bollywood and TV actors wear these rip-offs. But preventing this phenomenon is easier said than done. Copyrighting may not help at all as people can work their way around it. For instance,the pocket of your creation may have been cut at a 45 degree angle,but a similar one with a 47 degree angle cut will escape the law,” says Khanna.

For Shantanu Mehra of Shantanu and Nikhil,copyrighting is a “cumbersome process”. “It’s a tricky road with too many legalities,so while one can copyright a print or certain other unique detail,the basic features can’t be marked as one’s own. The piping,for one,is used by all designers who make the bandhgala. So Rathore’s piping will have to have its own unique stamp to qualify for a copyright,” he says,adding that he doesn’t see himself go down that road.

“We keep evolving and innovating so we are always coming up with modified versions of our own previous creations. This,in turn,dilutes the copyright. But yes,at the end of the day,to each his own,” he signs off.