Laduma Ngxokolo of the world-renowned Maxhosa by Laduma fashion label is not deterred by the size of Zara and is determined to take the brand to task over copyright infringement allegations.
Laduma expressed his feelings about Zara allegedly replicating his traditional Xhosa-inspired designs.
"I’ve had a few copyright infringement cases in the past, and won majority of them, but Zara took this one to great extremes. My lawyers are dealing with this matter, fully understanding that this is Zara’s business model, regardless of such we will enforce our entitlement of laying criminal charges under the SA Copyright Act, 98," he wrote.
Laduma said he was disappointed by Zara's actions and planned to return every item of clothing he's bought from the store.
"Regardless of the outcome, my family and I will be returning every piece of clothing we bought from them."
In a statement released by Maxhosa by Laduma, thanked patrons for alerting them to the "similar" clothing items at Zara stores worldwide and on their online platforms.
The patterns on Zara's latest sock range resembled Laduma's Khanyisa Cardigan range, which was launched in March 2014 at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Joburg.
The cardigan is apparently still available on Laduma's online store and was one of the fashion label's best sellers.
"We consulted with Shane Moore and Muhammad Patel from Moore Attorneys, one of Africa’s leading IP law firms who are handling the matter on our behalf.
"The debate as to whether we shall win the case or not remains, we stand by our decision to fight such a case. Thus, we have sent our letter of demand and we await their reply," said the statement.
Numerous attempts by TshisaLIVE to get comment from Zara proved unsuccessful at the time of publishing this article.
Meanwhile, South Africans have expressed outrage over the fiasco on social media.
Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package. 