Why India Cannot Stop Brands Like Ralph Lauren From Copying Traditional Jhumkas

 Who Owns the Jhumka?

When Ralph Lauren took a classic Indian earring well known as Jhumka to the Paris runway, social media exploded. But the real question no one is asking is the legal one and the answer is deeply uncomfortable.

✒️ Sreeja Ghosh 

When a model sashayed down a Ralph Lauren runway in Paris wearing bell-shaped, tiered earrings that millions of Indian women recognise instantly as their own grandmother's jhumkas, or that are easily available from the street of Kolkata's Gariahat to Delhi's Janpath market, the internet did not pause to consider IP law. It did what the internet does best  it raged. Memes comparing the runway accessory with jhumkas sold on Delhi's Janpath market for fifty rupees spread faster than any press release. 'Cultural appropriation,' the captions screamed, 'they're selling our heritage back to us.'

The outrage was valid. The emotion was real. But beneath the viral fire lies a far more consequential and far less comfortable question: can India actually do anything about it legally? The answer, in most cases, is a firm and disheartening and understanding why it is necessary for us to look closely at the architecture of intellectual property law and why it was never built for people like us.

The Issue With Protecting Traditional Designs

Modern intellectual property laws are designed to protect individual creators and original inventions. Patents, copyrights and design registrations usually apply when something is new, innovative and created by a clearly recognisable person or company. Traditional cultural designs rarely meet these criteria.

Jewellery styles like Jhumka earrings have evolved over centuries through community craftsmanship. No single designer or brand can claim to have invented them. They are part of shared cultural heritage. As a result, they often fall into what lawyers describe as the “public domain.” This means anyone, anywhere in the world, can technically recreate or reinterpret the design without violating intellectual property laws. That legal reality makes it extremely difficult for countries like India to challenge international fashion brands.

“I am not fully aware of the details of the jhumka controversy, so I would not like to comment on that specific case,” said T.K. Jana, an intellectual property practitioner. “However, if a design is not formally registered, it often becomes ‘common to trade’. Many vintage designs were never registered because such practices were not common earlier. Even when a design is registered, protection under design law typically remains valid for only about fifteen years.”

 GI Tags: Protection With Limits

India does have one system designed to protect regional heritage products that is the Geographical Indication tag. GI tags designate products whose unique reputation and quality are fundamentally tied to a specific geographical origin. For example, Darjeeling Tea, Banarasi Saree Kanchipuram Silk Saree.

These GI tags ensure that only producers from that particular region can legally market their goods under that name. Infact GI protection has a major limitation. It protects the name and origin, not necessarily the design itself.

For instance , a company outside India cannot label its product as “Banarasi Saree” unless it actually comes from Varanasi. But it can still create a saree with similar motifs or weaving patterns and sell it under a different name. The same principle applies to jewellery. Even if a jhumka style were associated with a region, a global brand could still reinterpret the design without violating GI laws.

Source – Artchives India

Legal experts often point out that traditional crafts fall into a grey area known as Traditional Cultural Expressions (TCEs). These include designs, patterns, music, dance forms and craft traditions that belong collectively to communities rather than individuals. Unlike modern inventions, these expressions have been passed down through generations. International discussions on protecting TCEs are ongoing, particularly at organizations like the World Intellectual Property Organization. But global legal frameworks remain incomplete. Until stronger systems are adopted, many cultural designs remain unprotected to commercial reinterpretation.

Why Artisans Rarely Benefit

While international brands draw inspiration from traditional aesthetics, the original artisans often remain invisible in the global conversation. Across India, thousands of small jewellery workshops produce traditional designs in cities like Jaipur, Hyderabad and Kolkata’s Bowbazar district. Many artisans inherit their skills through generations of family craftsmanship.

Yet these craftsmen typically operate in the informal economy, with limited access to branding, international markets or intellectual property protections. As a result, when traditional designs appear on luxury runways or global retail platforms, the communities that developed them rarely see any financial benefit. This imbalance highlights a growing tension between global fashion inspiration and local economic justice.

The Ownerless Heritage 

A Larger Question for India

Fashion evolves through cultural exchange, and Indian fashion itself reflects diverse influences. But critics argue problems arise when global brands profit from cultural symbols without acknowledging their origins. The debate around Ralph Lauren and Jhumka earrings raises a key question: who owns cultural heritage, and who benefits from it?

The jhumka controversy is ultimately about more than one fashion show or one global brand. It raises a broader question for India as a country rich in cultural heritage.

How can traditional crafts be protected in a global creative economy where inspiration travels freely across borders? Until stronger legal and economic frameworks emerge, many of India’s most iconic cultural designs may continue to inspire the world without necessarily benefiting the communities that created them.