Mansur Gavriel responds to Maryam Nassir Zadeh's copyright allegations

New York - It's commonplace in the fashion industry for people to play copycat, however, it's another when a designer is flat out accusing another brand or designer of copying their aesthetic completely. Last week during the peak of NYFW, designer Maryam Nassir Zadeh caused quite the controversy throughout the fashion industry when she accused Mansur Gavriel of copying her designs. The designer has alleged that the brand has created a direct copy of her mule sandal.

Nassir Zadeh didn't take this quietly either. She took to Instagram to voice her concerns over the shoes. She has posted several articles discussing how Mansur Gavriel copied her designs, thanking every fashion reporter who helped her call out Mansur Gavriel for their similar designs.

In September 2015, Mansur Gavriel launched their first shoe collection featuring seemingly exact replicas of Maryam’s hallmark mule and slide designs in colors identical to Maryam’s Spring 2015 collection that was released one year ago,” Nassir Zadeh’s representative said in a statement released on Wednesday, September 16.

Maryam Nassir Zadeh and Mansur Gavriel embroiled in copyright controversy

Nassir Zadeh not only pointed out similarities in Mansur Gavriel's shoe designs, but she also alleges they copied her signature colors of lemon, cobalt, and watermelon. She has still declined to state whether or not she will take legal action against the company.

After Mansur Gavriel unveiled their shoes, Nassir Zadeh went back into her companies archives and found several receipts from March, April, and May of this year proving that Rachel Mansur of Mansur Gavriel purchased several pairs of her shoes. She also found a much earlier purchase from Floriana Gavriel dating back to 2014.

Mansur Gavriel had spent the past week declining to comment on the situation, but today they finally released a statement to Business of Fashion: "Recently it has come to our attention that fellow New York City brand Maryam Nassir Zadeh is claiming similarities between her designs and our newly launched Spring/Summer 2016 shoe collection. This deeply saddens us as any similarity is completely coincidental. Our line has been developed and designed over a period of 18 months, drawing inspiration from classic shoe silhouettes and the iconic colours and materials of our handbag collection.

Mansur Gavriel was founded in 2012 with a dedication to providing clean, classic handbag designs crafted in the highest quality Italian leathers. "It is our design philosophy and concept to concentrate on a few classical shapes in a wide array of colours and materials. That same philosophy guided us in designing our shoe collection which consists of 4 styles, 5 heel heights, 2 fabrications and 16 colours, resulting in 320 SKUs." The colours selected for this collection all tie back to the interior and exterior colours of our core handbag collection, which has been on the market since June 2013.

"We respect Maryam Nassir Zadeh as a designer and retailer, and are customers of her store. However, we believe that neither she nor we can claim ownership of a mule or slide or block heel or colour, for that matter. We are well aware of rampant imitation of young designers in the marketplace and have personally experienced this many times. However, we are also well aware we do not own the silhouette of the bucket bag or the tote."

For Nassir Zadeh, the likelihood of her winning a lawsuit against Mansur Gavriel is unlikely. Copyright laws don't protect functional apparel like shoes, and unless she can prove the colors are part of trademark, like Louboutin's red soles, she doesn't have much of a case against them. Right now, the best Nassir Zadeh has got is Instagram.

Given Mansur Gavriel's successful retail status with department stores, many in the fashion industry will most likely just ignore Nassir Zadeh's claims and proceed with business as usual. A representative for Mansur Gavriel nor Nassir Zadeh was available for immediate comment.