In fashion, plagiarism cancels all good intentions out

Designer Maria B, of the label Maria. B. has been very vocal about her stance on the siege of Gaza. In June of this year, she posted a video of herself and others rejecting products with any Israeli affiliation on an social media account that documents her various activisms.

Please make special note of the music used in this clip, which is labeled as 'original'.

Maria B the person takes up many social and moral causes with a unique view of her own which one may or may not agree with, but must recognize that she has the visibility, platform, and followers to influence a wide section of society.

We've heard her takes on the many ills of the agendas the more liberal sections of Pakistani society are allegedly pushing. And while those beg inspection too, from a purely creative ethics point of view, Maria. B. - both person and label - has crossed an unforgivable line.

It wasn't quite bad enough that the label thought fit to launch the Falasteen collection with a fashion short that held the design in high relief against a decrepit, perhaps war-torn backdrop.

Then, the designer released an accompanying video note, calling out her sworn enemies, the liberals, for praising international brands for releasing Palestine-inspired work, and hating local brands for doing the same.

While much has been said about how opportunistic and predatory it is for businesses in general, and Maria. B. in particular to try to profit from what is not even a war but one of the cruelest displays of power over an already besieged land, the last bit of oversight from both designer and label is actually unforgivable because it is ridiculous.

For someone who has been in the industry for as long as Maria B has, it just beggars belief that she could have thought she could get away with reproducing another artist's work on such a mass scale, in such a highly-publicized fashion.

Artist/activist Leena Ghani followed the thread of design on the Falasteen collection and traced it all the way back to Turkish artist Hacı Balina Atölye🇹🇷. Brand Maria. B. has since issued an apology on their Insta stories as well.

Maria. B. Official Instagram

While the whole turning-a-tragedy-into-a-pret-line situation is awful, what is worse is that in 2024, no one on the Maria. B. creative team foresaw the trouble plagiarising someone's art could cause. In the age of online portfolios, artist pages, reverse image searches, and most of all, social media and the very vigilant people who use it, such a mistake could be absolutely career-ending.

For someone who has been in the industry for as long as Maria B has, it just beggars belief that she could have thought she could get away with reproducing another artist's work on such a mass scale, in such a highly-publicized fashion, even if it for a reported good cause (all proceeds go to charities supporting Palestine).

Whether you support Maria B, her work, and all the causes she champions, couldn't care less, or don't agree with her ideology at all, we all can agree on one thing: plagiarism in the digital age is stupid, and sheer stupidity is simply unforgivable.