NEW DELHI - If a sari by Sabyasachi Mukherjee or a lehenga by Manish Malhotra seems out of reach, try visiting the crowded lanes of Chandni Chowk in Delhi’s old quarter. The replicas there promise to jazz up every woman’s bridal wardrobe even as they give nightmares to designers.

Anarkali Bazar, squeezed between an array of shops offering colourful bridal wear in Delhi’s old quarter of Chandni Chowk, is one such outlet. The mannequins on display proudly flaunt designer labels.

Go inside and ask the owner, Ashok Arora, whether the lehengas are actually designed by these top-notch designers, and he candidly shakes his head.

“They are copies. We copy the original designs and offer them to our customers at much cheaper prices. Not everyone can afford these expensive designers, so we are the solution,” Arora told IANS.

“You can get any design from the net and my in-house designer team will give you an exact replica of the same design. It would be so close to the original design that it would be difficult for you to differentiate between the copy and the original,” he added.

Asked if he was not afraid of copyright violation, Arora said: “I am not the only one. The most important thing is that the designs they create are out of the common man’s reach. A middle class woman also dreams of wearing a designer lehenga but it is so expensive that she can’t afford it.”

“This is how the idea came. To make the dreams of bride-to-be to come true. We have our in-house designers and even if you get your own picture, I will copy that perfectly in a dress - that is the level of perfection we have,” he added.

The cost of these lehengas ranges from Rs.40,000-Rs.100,000 - half or even one-third of the price of the original creations.

Poonam Darswal, 25, who is getting married next month, has bought a replica of her favourite designer Manish Malhotra’s lehenga and is excited about wearing it on the big day.

“I had loved this lehenga by Manish. I couldn’t afford it, but then I got made an exact replica of the same design. It looks just perfect. I won’t mind saying to my relatives that it is an original Manish Malhotra!” she said.

Ace designer Ritu Kumar, who has been in the fashion industry for over 40 years, says these copies do hamper the sale of the designer bridal wear but the only solution is to be innovative and creative.

“This fake business is a lot in the market and you just can’t stop people from doing it. The best thing would be to copyright your designs and if you find people selling it, sue them,” Kumar told IANS.

“The best thing though would be to be creative and innovative enough with your designs and keep on improving,” she said.

Kumar also noted that the quality of these lehengas can’t match the original designs.

“There has to be some difference for sure. One just can’t get a heavily embroidered lehenga for mere Rs.40,000. They just can’t match the original work,” she said.

Another designer, Leena Singh of Ashima-Leena duo, was taken aback when a shopkeeper in Chandni Chowk offered her a fake version of her own design.

“I was shocked! He was offering me a copy of my own design and he had copies of other designers as well,” she said.

“Nowadays it has become very easy for these shop owners because they can copy our designs from the internet. We are just helpless. It is not possible to register each and every design,” Leena added.

(Shilpa Raina can be contacted at shilpa.r@ians.in)