Greek clothing brand accuses Decjuba of copying dress designs

Greek clothing brand Devotion Twins has accused retailer Decjuba of copying their dress designs in its latest summer collection.

Devotion Twins claims Decjuba, which operates 140 stores in Australia and New Zealand, ripped off its popular trademark-registered Ella dress design that had become internationally recognized and worn by actors such as Catherine Zeta-Jones and socialite Kris Jenner.

The dresses appear identical, but Decjuba has a necktie. Interestingly, Decjuba’s version of the dresses are sold for about $180 a piece, while the Devotion Twins is sold for $500.

Devotion Twins had sent a legal letter to Decjuba through its lawyer to stop them from selling the copied dress, but a spokesperson for Decjuba New Zealand said its Freya dress was only available online in New Zealand, and not in stores.

Netizens were quick to identify the blatant rip-off.

Sharing views with the media outlet Stuff, Alex Sims, a commercial law associate professor at the University of Auckland, said the dresses looked “very similar”.

“The fact that one has tassels and the other one does not, does not prevent copyright infringement from occurring. Infringement depends on the facts as would need to prove that copying had occurred.

“Just because two things are very similar and one was created before another one does not automatically mean there is copyright infringement.”

The founder of Devotion Twins Athina Parnasa says that its “signature style” Ella has been very successful worldwide since 2019.

“Many have tried to copy us but never succeeded. Neither the quality nor the design of the jacquard is approximately comparable,” she added.

Learning from the episode, she plans to register her trademark in more countries to avoid future rip-offs.

PitchMark has covered a story about Australian designer Ambra Fossati accusing beauty influencer Shani Grimmond of allegedly copying her dress design that she was planning to release under her Sylk Swim label.

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