Mexico accuses Adidas of cultural appropriation
Mexican officials accuse the sportswear company Adidas of plagiarism with plagiarism in South Mexico, and claim that a new sandal design is stunned by 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.
Local officials asked Adidas to pull the shoe model.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Friday that Adidas was in talks with the authorities in the Southern Mexico state to provide “compensation for plagiarized people”.
The government is preparing legal reforms to prevent the copying 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 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 throw a more chunky base.
According to the Mexican authorities, Adidas’s design includes elements that are part of the cultural heritage of the Zapotec domestic communities in Oaxaca, especially in the village of Villa Hidalgo, in the town of 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 percent of the gross domestic product of states such as Oaxaca, Jalisco, Michoacán and Guerrero.
Oaxaca officials wanted to withdraw Oaxaca Slip-on, and asked Adidas a public apology, 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, including Zara, Anthropologie and Patowl, to make a statement from OAXACA’s domestic communities to make a statement about why they copied 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.
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