“I hear you, I see you, and I understand why you feel the way you do.” With those words, Anita Dongre has addressed the controversy surrounding her latest ‘Love All’ campaign after two independent designers questioned striking similarities between their work and the fashion giant’s new campaign.

The controversy erupted after Dongre launched her Festive/Winter 2026 collection, ‘Love All’, on August 7. Designers Mehar Toor of Ada by Mehar and Sachi Raval of Same Sisters subsequently took to Instagram to point out similarities they noticed between their earlier work and Dongre’s campaign, including its visual language, tennis-inspired theme and, in Sachi’s case, the use of the same ‘Love All’ title.

Neither designer directly called Dongre a plagiarist, but both questioned the lack of credit and acknowledgement.

What did Anita Dongre say about the controversy?

In a personal statement shared on Instagram, Dongre acknowledged that she had heard and understood the concerns raised by the two designers.

“I know what it is to pour your heart into an idea and build something from nothing,” she wrote, adding that women building their own brands would understand that feeling particularly deeply.

Dongre then explained where the idea for her ‘Love All’ campaign came from. According to the designer, the collection was built around her belief in “love, equality and partnership”, with tennis serving as a metaphor for a relationship between equals.

“From there came the metaphor of a volley. A game between two people, beginning on equal grounds. Love All. Zero Zero,” she said.

The designer also pointed to her brand’s long history of using love as a creative theme, citing campaigns including ‘Love Notes’ and ‘Epic Love’ from 2016, ‘Tree of Love’ from 2017, ‘Jaipur Love’ from 2019, ‘Love Song’ from 2020 and ‘A Wildflower in Love’ from 2021.

She said the latest campaign was developed over several months through a detailed creative process and argued that similarities can sometimes occur even when creators work independently.

“Different creators can sometimes arrive at overlapping creative expressions,” Dongre said.

Why did the designers question the campaign?

Mehar Toor had earlier said that she did not believe Dongre had copied her campaign outright, but felt it appeared to be “inspired” by it, particularly because of similarities in the way certain shots were created.

She also highlighted the difference in visibility between a large established fashion brand and a smaller independent label, questioning what happens when ideas created by emerging designers are echoed by much larger names.

Sachi Raval, meanwhile, pointed to her 2023 ‘Love All’ collection, which combined tennis, sport and Indian fashion, a combination that also forms a major part of Dongre’s latest campaign.

What made the situation more significant for Sachi, however, was that she said ideas from her campaign had been shared with a significant member of Anita Dongre’s creative team a year earlier and had been personally acknowledged at the time.

Anita Dongre: ‘There is room for many voices’

Dongre stressed that tennis and fashion have shared a creative vocabulary for generations, while explaining that the name ‘Love All’ itself came from tennis terminology.

“For over three decades, I have tried to build this brand with integrity, originality and respect for creativity,” she wrote. “Those values matter deeply to me, which is why I felt it was important to address this personally.”

Rather than turning the situation into a confrontation between women-led brands, Dongre said she wanted to acknowledge the feelings of the designers involved and recognise the work being done by other brands in the space.

“There is room for many voices, many perspectives, and many women to create. And there is certainly room for love,” she concluded.