Leading ethnicwear retailer FabIndia is facing backlashes for its ‘Diwali’ collection called ‘Jashn-e-Riwaaz’.
On Twitter, netizens are using #BoycottFabIndia against the brand.
FabIndia publicised its latest collection ‘Jashn-e-Riwaaz’, which has been featured by Vogue. The company took to their official social media handles and wrote, “As we welcome the festival of love and light, Jashn-e-Riwaaz by FabIndia is a collection that beautifully pays homage to Indian culture.”
Following an adverse response, FabIndia has now deleted its original tweet.
Tejasvi Surya, Member of Parliament for Bengaluru South Lok Sabha and the national president of BJP Yuva Morcha also took to his Twitter handle and objected to the clothing brand’s ad campaign. He said FabIndia ‘must face economic costs for such deliberate misadventures’.
Mohandas Pai, Chairman, Manipal Global Education, also slammed the brand for its choice of words. He tweeted “Maan you do not get it! Use of Alien terms for a Hindu festival is a deliberate attempt to take away our heritage and subvert it! You can use any brand name you want post-Diwali but at this time, linking it to Diwali shows a perverted mindset!
The brand has stated, “We at FabIndia have always stood for the celebration of India with its myriad traditions in all hues. In fact, ‘FabIndia – Celebrate India’ is our tagline and also a wordmark. Our current capsule of products under the name Jashn-e-Riwaaz is a celebration of Indian traditions. The phrase means that, literally. The capsule is not our Diwali Collection of products. Our Diwali collection is called ‘Jhilmil si Diwali’ is yet to be launched. Please do keep a lookout. It is going to be beautiful.”
