Maria B is under fire after being accused of copying designs for her Palestine campaign.
Over the weekend, designer Maria B. launched a capsule line called the Falesteen Collection. The collection includes T-shirts, two-piece and three-piece lawn suits featuring prints of the black-and-white keffiyeh, colourful houndstooth patterns, and watermelon, symbolising Palestine’s resistance.
One of the designs featured a map of Palestine with a boy merged into the pattern, along with the Palestine flag wrapped in olive branches.
This design caught the attention of artist Leena Ghani, who noticed it was copied. She shared Maria B.’s campaign on her Instagram stories and tagged the page Palestine Quebec, which confirmed that Turkish artist Hacı Balina Atölye created the design.
As the allegation spread online, Palestine Quebec and Leena Ghani urged people to call out the designer and support the artist whose work had been copied. Maria B. did not initially respond to the accusations.
On Tuesday night, however, the designer addressed the issue on her Instagram stories, confirming that she had “unintentionally” used the artist’s work in her collection. She called it an “oversight” and apologised to her followers.
“In this digital age of fast-paced information and viral images, such unintentional oversights can occur. We apologize for the oversight,” her statement read.
“We have contacted the artist, who recognizes our work with empathy and grace and is willing to collaborate with us in our efforts for Gaza. She’s a young and talented artist, please support her work! @hacibalina,” the designer said.
She also criticised those she called “liberals foaming at the mouth” for accusing her of blatant plagiarism.
Maria B. responded to criticism in her stories, saying, “Maria B. copied the Gaza flag. Maria B copied the Gaza map. Maria B copied Keffiyeh. Maria B copied resistance art. Maria B copied watermelon. Watermelon copied embroidery. Low IQ liberals.”
She emphasised, “This is an inspired collection picking up images of resistance,” and clarified that she was not making any money from the sales. “Liberals try to take me down while I’m trying to help raise funds for Gaza. This is Pakistan. Do nothing yourself and tear down anyone who tries to do something, God is enough for me, I will never stop,” she added.
The Turkish artist Atölye shared a photo from Butt’s collection that featured her design, along with the caption, “My artwork in Pakistan.”
Maria B.’s claim that ‘liberals’ were trying to ‘take her down’ overlooks the fact that she did copy the design. While her campaign to donate the proceeds from her sales to Palestine is commendable, copying someone else’s design is not. Whether intentional or not, incidents like this can harm even the noblest campaigns. We hope more brands in Pakistan will educate their teams about plagiarism and take extra care in reviewing their collections.
Maria B. has repeatedly landed in hot waters in recent years for targeting the transgender community and, most recently, for her crusade against Barzakh.
