MANILA — Filipino fashion designer to the stars and entrepreneur Rajo Laurel exploded on Twitter recently after discovering that his ‘Iris’ top was allegedly copied by a young designer on Instagram.
Laurel took to Twitter and blatantly called out to a certain Mariella Garcia, the owner/designer of 37 LA Online Shop (@37la_al73 on Instagram), asking his followers to tell the designer to stop copying his creations before he takes legal action.
Can someone tell this designer to STOP copying my #iris top?!!! I Am about to take legal action 😡 pic.twitter.com/VhsLR4swkj
— Rajo Laurel (@rajolaurel) July 5, 2015
“There’s a huge difference from inspiration & Blatant copying & plagiarism!!! Plagiarism is a criminal act!” Laurel tweeted, showing a screenshot of 37 LA’s Instagram profile.
There’s a huge difference from inspiration & Blatant copying & plagiarism!!!! Plagiarism is a criminal act! pic.twitter.com/4wsLh0ZdzU — Rajo Laurel (@rajolaurel) July 5, 2015
Several posts on 37 LA’s account shows photos of customers — including some celebrities — wearing her creations, including the ‘Luna’ top, which Laurel claims to be plagiarized from him.
As of posting, Garcia or 37 LA is yet to release a statement or comment about Laurel’s allegations of plagiarism.
A few hours later, Laurel posted a photo with Atty. Karen Jimeno whose legal advice he was seeking regarding the matter.
