London animator accuses Indian brand Theatre of design theft, brand issues ‘deepest apology’

'It was weird and upsetting having my design plagiarised,' Jocie Juritz said as she highlighted how her design and Theatre's product were exactly the same. (Image credit: @jociejuritz/Instagram, Reddit)

London-based animation artist has accused Indian fashion label Theatre.xyz of plagiarising her design for a pair of boots and even offered an animation lesson to improve the brand's promotional video. Jocie Juritz took to Instagram to share her experience in a now-viral video and revealed that the "ripping off" was brought to light by her followers right after Theatre launched its "Jiji" boots that looked like a replica of her work. The boots were priced at over Rs 3,000 and gave no credit to Juritz.

"Another shoe brand ripped off my design," the animator said in her video, where she also revealed her art and Theatre's identical product. "(There was) not even a slight attempt at changing it. Very direct. The weirdest thing of all was that they did this animation about the conception of the idea of the shoe, which is weird because I'm a professional animator."

Juritz then gave a frame-by-frame analysis of the promotional animation and how it could have been made better. As the reel gained more traction, it compelled Theatre to respond.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jocie Juritz (@jociejuritz)

Theatre apologises: 'We deserve it'

Responding publicly, Shruti Aggarwal, co-founder and creative director of Theatre, wrote: "Dear Jocie, My name is Shruti, and I am the creative director of Theater. I just wanted to deeply apologise for this. The day has been traumatic, and the sad part is that I know we deserve it. I remember how this happened, I saw this design online, thought to myself that this is the cutest retro design and just sent it to the team to sample. I know one thing led to another, and it just all happened as a process after. I really did not intend for it to be like this."

Aggarwal admitted the brand sold only two pairs and promised internal checks: “I aim to hold myself to a higher standard on life and also take time off this business and re-evaluate choices. Also, a sincere apology to our community. I know the team is looking at all internal processes to make sure something like this does not happen again," she said.

Animator from Theatre speaks up

In her post, Juritz had also clarified she wasn’t sure if Theatre's animator knew the design was stolen: “If it was you, and you didn’t know, I hope you find this unsolicited feedback helpful," she wrote. It prompted a response from the animator Pronali (@eternal.shade).

"First of all, thank you for the tutorial, as a self-taught 2D animator, it did help me with some of the personal problems I was having with animation," she wrote, adding that she too had noticed that the brand's design wasn't its own. "I did bring the issue to the higher-ups when they got the design from the manufacturers, but it wasn't taken seriously… I'm sorry for disrespecting you through plagiarism… Also to some people saying it's AI, it's not, it's all hand-drawn and voice-acted by myself with stock sounds."

Social media backlash and Juritz’s olive branch
Despite the apology, users slammed Theatre for lack of accountability.

"Products don’t just manifest into existence after sending them as a reference. You planned an entire marketing campaign behind this product… do better," wrote one Instagram user, addressing Aggarwal. “If you are the creative director, why do you sound so powerless to stop plagiarism in the company you work for?” asked another.

Juritz, however, responded graciously: "Hey Shruti, thanks for apologising. I really appreciate hearing from you. Honestly, if this situation led to no more copied designs from Theater, I would be so happy… Perhaps this can be a nice turning point."

She also thanked her followers for their support. "It was weird and upsetting having my design plagiarised, but it made me feel so supported knowing lots of lovely people were willing to say something. THANK YOU to those who got in touch!!! And an enormous thank you too, to the law firm who sorted everything out!!!," Juritz concluded.