Local designer Anisa Mpungwe of Loin Cloth & Ashes is involved in a legal wrangle over blatant copies of her garments, and Gavin Rajah has previously been the centre of a Twitter storm accusing him of copying international designs. In December, Chanel issued an apology to Mati Ventrillon for copying her Fair Isle sweater, which Chanel had purchased for research purposes. A battle is brewing between Cara Delevingne and Otherwild over a T-shirt based on a vintage '70s design carrying the slogan "The Future is Female". After receiving an Otherwild T-shirt as a gift, Delevingne decided to produce and sell them herself.A photo posted by Cara Delevingne (@caradelevingne) on Dec 6, 2015 at 8:48am PSTCara How can fashion designers protect themselves against fakes? Intellectual Property law is murky at best, as designs have to be distinct and original to be copyrighted. As most fashion design references either historic, traditional or cultural clothing, being able to patent a design is tricky to say the least.story_article_right1Gucci won its case against Guess a few years ago, and several other luxury brands such as Burberry and Chanel have been involved in copyright lawsuits. High-street chains are well known for knocking off big fashion house designs within weeks of them showing on the catwalk. This has been given a somewhat ironic twist with the wildly popular designer collaborations that companies such as Target, H&M and Topshop have introduced over the last decade.Locally Mr Price and Mr Price Home collaborate with South African designers. Edgars stock local designers' garments and Legit collaborates with both South African designers and celebrities.Traditional communities are also protecting their heritage. Designer Isabel Marant has again found herself embroiled in a plagiarism row, after members of the Mixe community in southern Mexico accused her of copying their traditional dress. Creative director Marjan Pejoski of London-based label KTZ recently apologised to the Inuit great-granddaughter of a shaman whose design they copied.In one of the most famous court cases involving fashion copyright, Christian Louboutin filed a lawsuit against Yves Saint Laurent, alleging that YSL violated Louboutin's copyright by using red soles on some of its shoes. YSL replied that no fashion designer should have a monopoly on any colour.Bradley Kirshenbaum of local label Love Jozi pre-empted the problem by faking his own brand. He created a cheaper fake brand called Luv Jozi selling for almost half the price, giving the impression that someone was copying Love Jozi with cheap Chinese imports.For more information on how to protect your brand contact the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission...