Recently, a TikTok video of a small hijab brand founder made its round on social media after he expressed frustration claiming that his hijab design has been imitated by a well-known hijab brand owned by a popular celebrity entrepreneur. The popular hijab brand is accused of stealing the idea of a pin-less magnetic hijab believed to have been pioneered by local small hijab brand The Jasmine.
The founder of The Jasmine, Yusfariq Iqmal expressed his disappointment in tears as he discovered that the concepts and ideas of his hard work over the past two years were plagiarised by the big brand. According to the 26-year-old entrepreneur who has been running The Jasmine brand since 2019, he has worked hard to introduce the simple hijab alternative to make the hijab wearing experience easier for women.
@yusfariq 💔PLEASE STOP COPYING SMALL BUSINESS IDEA. #thejasmine #bawalmagnetic
In fact, his team has been implementing various studies and getting public feedback in the research and development process to introduce the design. However, all his efforts were in vain when the famous brand also introduced their latest collection that resembled The Jasmine’s original creation.
“This big brand simply took my ideas. For more than two years I tried to convince people and I did R&D. I even experienced emotional distress. I felt like giving up sometimes. There were also times when I thought of changing my business,” Yusfariq shared. He added, “I tried to fix any complaints from the customers and I’m thankful to finally be able to produce this collection.”
The Jasmine founder also took to his Twitter to convey his dissatisfaction. In his Twitter post, he mentioned the big brand owner used to be his idol in pursuing success in business but eventually became disappointed with what the hijab tycoon had done. He also hoped that big brand founders can stop imitating other brands’ ideas, especially from small brands that are just beginning to establish themselves in the fashion industry.
“I know that I can’t compete with her big brand as she is a well-known figure in the fashion industry. What I can say is that this is my idea and I am the first to release this hijab collection, and not her,” he remarked.
The well-known hijab brand is trending on Twitter as netizens collectively expressed their frustration and condemned the brand’s action. Although some suggested for The Jasmine brand to patent their design, others commented that patenting a creation is very expensive. Some of the comments left by netizens include:
- “Disgusted but not surprised. People who keep supporting her urghh please block me.”
- “Hope the owner of the original idea could patent their design. At least they could sue the brand if anything.”
- “Legally, they didn’t do anything wrong because this is common in the business world. As long as it’s not patented, any company can have it. For me, they simply took small business ideas because in the end these people cannot do anything. The cost to patent your invention is really expensive.”
- “These big brands will simply copy ideas from small businesses because they (the big brands) know that these small brands can’t afford to patent their designs.”
This is not the first time that the brand has been embroiled in plagiarism, as several other brands including Soonaruxsleepystudio and Ilham Enchenta have previously claimed their ideas were also imitated by the brand.
Source: Astro Gempak
