NEW DELHI: Not on the ramp, the spotlight at the ongoing Lakme India Fashion Week here for once was on an outfit that has apparently been worn by actress Rani Mukerjee in the upcoming movie "Bunty aur Bubbly". Accusing designer Aki Narula of "shamelessly" copying his creation to style the look in the film, designer Suneet Varma has decided to issue legal notices to the designer.

"I had designed that outfit as part of my Fall-Winter Collection 2003. Photographs of the same outfit also came out in Femina and Elle. But now, Rani Mukerjee is wearing an identical outfit in the film. I saw the photograph and was very upset. Many times, small stores and shops rip off our designs. But this is a case when a designer is ripping it off shamelessly," said an agitated Suneet.

According to Aki, the costume stylist for "Bunty aur Bubbly", picked it up from a store. "I am a costume stylist for the film. And my job is to provide the look for the actors. Because of compulsions of the job, we have to often pick up stuff from the stores. And in this case, the producer suddenly asked for a poncho and we had to go out and search for one. We found this outfit at Options in Mumbai. I still have the bill for the purchase and I will pass it on to Suneet. We would have mentioned the store in our credit," he clarified. He claimed that he did not realise it was similar to Suneet's creation.

But Suneet has decided to take legal action. According to the designer, legal notices have already been prepared and would be sent on Tuesday to Aki, the producer of the film and also to the store where Aki claims to have picked up the outfit.

While the particular outfit has not yet been patented, according to Suneet, the case would be still fairly strong. "My lawyer tells me that when we have such strong evidence, with photographs and other proof, then we don't need a patent law. It is a complete copy with the same surface treatment on the pants, the same cut and even the same colour. The only thing that is missing is a strip of colour in the edging," said argued Suneet.

According to the Fashion Design Council of India, the issue has to be first proven and would then be taken up. "We are not a regulatory body. The designers have to sort this out and prove the entire case before us. Till then, we cannot decide on the course of action," said director general of the Council, Rathi Vinay Jha.

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