International clothing retailer, Zara, has launched an internal investigation into copyright infringement allegations levelled against them by local fashion designer, Maxhosa by Laduma, over his signature Xhosa-inspired sock collection.
Over the past few days there has been outrage on social media after fans noticed similarities between Zara's collection and Maxhosa's world-renowned range.
The clothing giant has been lambasted for constantly "stealing" other people's ideas for profit. Laduma has since sought legal action against the clothing retailer.
In a statement issued to TshisaLIVE Zara said it had removed the socks from its online and physical stores.
Zara's holding company, Inditex, told said it viewed the allegations seriously.
"Inditex, the parent company of Zara, has the utmost respect for individual creativity and takes all claims concerning third party intellectual property rights very seriously. As a preventive action, the process to immediately remove this item both from stores and online was activated at the moment this situation was brought to our attention," read the statement provided to TshisaLIVE.