26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Westside accused of plagiarism by jewellery brand; earrings and choker Dia Mirza wore were 'carelessly stolen': See post
Jewellery designer Shruti Kumar's 'made in India' brand, The Rover said in an Instagram post on April 25 that retail brand Westside had 'brazenly plagiarised' their work. The accusations centre on the The Rover's 'Vishwa' collection, which the brand shared was copied by Westside, and sold for a much cheaper price. Also read | Is Shraddha Kapoor's jewellery brand selling Cartier knock-offs?
Sharing pictures and videos of their work and the ones they said were 'carelessly stolen' by Westside, The Rover included pictures of actor Dia Mirza sporing a pair of festive earrings and dainty necklace from their 'Vishwa' collection.
Take a look:
A post shared by Shruti Kumar | THE ROVER (@therover)
It features ivory enamel and faux pearls. The earrings come at a ₹4.4K price tag, while the choker sells for ₹3.4K on The Rover's website. The brand highlighted how Westside was selling similar earrings for just ₹399, and necklace for ₹299.
Check out their post:
A post shared by Shruti Kumar | THE ROVER (@therover)
In their statement shared via Instagram, tagging Westside Stores' official handle, The Rover said, 'It has come to our attention that Westside Stores has brazenly plagiarized the entire 'Vishwa' collection created by The Rover.'
The brand further explained why Westside's seemingly blatant rip-off of their work was of serious concern, saying, 'As independent designers who run completely bootstrapped businesses, we invest months in concept development, sampling, and execution. We take great pride in creating beautiful pieces and for a retail giant to so carelessly steal our work, assuming no one would notice, is unacceptable.'
Sharing how they would like Westside to address the issue, the brand concluded their statement with: 'We demand the immediate removal of these designs from Westside stores and their website.'
Commenting on The Rover's post, an Instagram user said, 'I went to their store recently, and although I love Westside, I couldn't help but notice the 'Nicobar'isation of it! Same fit, colour schemes and the tiny heart logo too. Too sad. I hope your efforts and voice don't go unnoticed.' Another commented, 'Yours is not the only brand they've copied. Many of their prints are 'inspired' by Cord, Kharakapas, etc. Quite sad.'
This is a developing story. Westside had not responded to The Rover's Instagram post at the time of writing this report.
