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Designer Hussain Rehar has been accused of plagiarism by artist Alisha Yazdani, who runs the online store Kook Studio. In an Instagram post, Yazdani levelled the allegations against Rehar and claimed that he ‘stole’ her work after offering a collaboration.

“I never provided any of my work after negotiations fell through post meeting him. Months later I see a whole line replicating my work,” she claimed in her post about the designer’s new clothing line, Jugnu. In the video, she shared screenshots, purportedly of a conversation with Rehar in which they discussed collaborating on a project. Yazdani shared the similarities in the designs in the video as well.

Both the designs feature a black background with designs featuring birds, flora and fauna, and various traditional designs in white.

Rehar responded to her via Instagram stories on Sunday and denied all the accusations.

“Jugnu did not draw inspiration from any specific individual’s work. Any interruption in communication with a particular artist occurred due to a project postponement and not as a reflection of our intentions,” said the designer.

“Jugnu, a project in the making for over a year, derives its inspiration from traditional African embroidery designs,” he added.

He also posted several pictures comparing Yazdani’s work and the Jugnu line clothes, pointing out the differences in design, such as differences in spacing and style.

Amidst this, an online store named Jugnu Candles also took to Instagram accusing Rehar of copying their brand name and image for his Jugnu clothing line.

“We were finally able to get in touch with their manager/representative who told us outright that they are ‘a very big brand hence they cannot change their name and will not discuss this further’,” said the brand in their post.

Rehar is yet to respond to the accusations levelled by Jugnu Candles.