A Dalston fashion designer has refused to bow to pressure from a Hindu statesman who is demanding she withdraw her swimsuit range adorned with images of the protective mother goddess Durga.

Sera Ulger says it would cost thousands of pounds to take her £95 “Goddess Sherwali swimsuit” out of production, and would set her start-up based in Matthias Road back years.

Rajan Zed from Nevada said goddess Durga is highly revered in Hinduism and is “meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines” and “not to adorn one’s buttocks and crotch”. He claims trivialization of Hindu deities is “disturbing” to his religious group.

“Hindus are for free artistic expression and speech as much as anybody else if not more, but faith is something sacred and attempts at trivializing it hurt the followers,” he added.

But Ulger is unrepentant: “I’m not going to take it down and that’s the reality of it,” she told the Gazette.

“I’m not a massive fashion brand and I’m not putting stuff out there in the millions and thousands. Its not a case of me selling in Top Shop.

“As an artist I truly believe I want to express that without having anyone telling me I can’t do that. It’s the whole reason you start your own business.”