After finding herself at the centre of a plagiarism controversy, designer Anita Dongre has responded to the allegations. Following the launch of her Festive/Winter 2026 collection, “Love All”, on August 7, independent designers Mehar Toor of Ada by Mehar and Sachi Raval of Same Sisters shared videos accusing the brand of creating campaigns that were “nearly the same” and “inspired” by their work, without giving them credit.
About the controversy
Mehar, in a video shared on Instagram on August 12, argued that Anita Dongre had not copied her campaign, which went live in March, outright but appeared to be “inspired” by it, to the extent of using similar shots in its brand campaign videos. While acknowledging that creative ideas can sometimes converge, she questioned the optics of this particular instance, pointing out that Anita Dongre is a well-established, highly visible brand, while smaller designers often have to “grovel, and beg, and borrow, and steal, just because we’re a newer brand,” to make their work stand out.
On the other hand, in an Instagram video shared on August 15, Sachi pointed out that her 2023 collection, also titled “Love All”, was a “juxtaposition of tennis, sport and Indian fashion”, themes that feature prominently in Anita Dongre’s recent campaign, which shares the same name. She too acknowledged that “similar ideas can happen independently”, but said what made this case stand out was an incident from a year ago, when ideas from her campaign were shared with a “significant member” of Anita Dongre’s creative team and were “personally and specifically” acknowledged by them. Sachi questioned the lack of credit and acknowledgement for the creative contributions and ideas of smaller designers.
Anita Dongre’s statement
Anita Dongre began her statement by acknowledging that she had heard, seen and understood the concerns raised by the independent designers. She continued, “I know what it is to pour your heart into an idea and build something from nothing. As women building our own brands, I think we understand that feeling particularly deeply.”
She went on to explain the creative process behind her latest collection, “Love All”, which she said was “born from a belief in love, equality and partnership.” Elaborating on the inspiration, she said, “Love All came from a belief I have held for a long time: that lasting love is between equals. From there came the metaphor of a volley. A game between two people, beginning on equal grounds. Love All. Zero Zero.”
She cited some of the brand’s previous campaigns that explored similar themes of love, including Love Notes and Epic Love (2016), Tree of Love (2017), Jaipur Love (2019), Love Song (2020) and A Wildflower in Love (2021). She emphasised that the latest campaign was the result of a painstaking creative process and months of developing its narrative, concluding that “different creators can sometimes arrive at overlapping creative expressions.” She also acknowledged that tennis and fashion have shared a creative language for generations, adding that the name “Love All” was inspired by the language of tennis itself.
The 62-year-old designer continued, “For over three decades, I have tried to build this brand with integrity, originality and respect for creativity. Those values matter deeply to me, which is why I felt it was important to address this personally. Rather than allowing a conversation between women-led brands become one of creative tension, I would like to acknowledge the feelings of the founders involved and congratulate them and other brands who share this space on what they have created.”
“There is room for many voices, many perspectives, and many women to create. And there is certainly room for love,” Anita concluded.
