Mexican Authorities Accuse Adidas Of Cultural Appropriation Over New Sandal Design

Mexico City (AP) – Mexican Authorities blame the sportswear company Adidas Claiming that plagiarism craftsmen in South Mexico are strikingly similar to traditional native shoes known as Huarans.

The debate fueled the charges of cultural allowance by the shoe brand, and the authorities say that it was not copied for traditional Mexican crafts for the first time. Referring to these concerns, local authorities asked Adidas to take the shoe model.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum On Friday, Adidas said that he had negotiated with the authorities in the Southern Mexico Oaxaca state to provide “compensation for plagiarized people, and that his government has prepared legal reforms to prevent the copy of Mexican crafts.

Adidas did not immediately respond to Associated Press’s request for comment.

The design at the center of the debate is “Oaxaca Slip-on”, a boat created by US designer Willy Chavarría for Adidas Originals. Sandals have a similar style of braided thin leather straps in a similar way to traditional Mexico Huarans. Instead of flat skin soles, Adidas shoes are more chunky, portraying the sneakers base.

According to Mexican officials, Adidas’s design includes elements that are part of the cultural heritage. Zapotec Domestic Communities in OaxacaEspecially in the town of Villa Hidalgo de Yalálag. Handicrafts are an important economic life line in Mexico and offer business for approximately half a million people throughout the country. Industry constitutes about 10% of the gross domestic product of states such as Oaxaca, Jalisco, Michoacán and Guerrero.

Oaxaca officials asked for the withdrawal of Oaxaca Slip-on, and asked for a public apology from Adidas, and the authorities described the design of the Mexican law as “cultural allowance ..

In a public letter to the leadership of Adidas, Oaxaca State Governor Salomón Jara Cruz criticized the company’s design and said that “creative inspiration” “providing identity to communities” is not a valid reason to use cultural expressions.

“Culture is not sold, respected,” he added.

The debate follows the efforts of the Mexican government and craftsmen that they say that they copy traditional designs.

In 2021, the Federal Government asked manufacturers such as Zara, Anthropologie and Patowl to make a statement from Oaxaca’s indigenous communities to make a statement about why they copy their clothing designs in their stores.

Now, Mexican officials say they are trying to make more strict arrangements to protect the artists. However, Marina Núñez, the Undersecretary of Cultural Development of Mexico, said that they want to create instructions to avoid deprived artists to “trade or cooperate with these very wide commercial access companies.