London – Isabel Marant may have found inspiration for her collections in numerous
tribes from around the world, but now the French designer is accused of
taking her sources of inspiration too literally as one indigenous community
argues the motifs found on a blouse, dress and skirt in her Spring/Summer
2015 collection is a direct and blatant copy of their traditional dress.
The Mixe community, an indigenous tribe from Santa Maria Tlahuitoltepec,
Oaxaca in Mexico are threatening to take legal action against the French
designer after noticing the uncanny resemblance between certain items from
Marant’s Etolie line and their traditional dress. “Isabel Marant is
committing a plagiarism because the Etoile spring/summer 2015 collection
contains the graphical elements specific to the Tlahuitoltepec blouse, a
design which has transcended borders, and is not a novel creation as is
affirmed by the designer,” said a representative of the community during a
press conference held earlier this month. The community is now asking for
reparation from the designer for damages and are set to take legal action
as they view their traditional dress to be a symbol of their identity.
Isabel Marant accused of “hijacking a cultural heritage for commercial
benefit”
The designer stands accused of “hijacking a cultural heritage for
commercial benefit,” whilst putting “indigenous communities at risk, as
well as the originality of the fashion industry,” according to Santa
Maria’s Tlahuitoltepec mayor Erasmo Hernández González. Accusation first
began flying earlier this year, in January when Oaxacan singer Susana Harp
shared a photograph of Marant’s Vicky blouse in question on Twitter next to
a picture of the 600 year old design for the traditional Tlahuitoltepec
blouse, which has been produced in the south of the country by the tribe
for years. The image went viral and led to national debate concerning
cultural influences and the fashion industry.
The dress version of the alleged plagiarized traditional costume is
currently on sale for 120 pounds on Net-a-Porter, down from the original
retail price of 200 pounds which is equal to 4,500 Mexican pesos. The
original blouse from the Mixe community is said to cost roughly 300 pesos
in Tlahuitoltepec. “The community also invited [Isabel Marant] to visit and
to learn about the community and the artisan women creating the garment for
so many generations,” said Adriana Aguerrebere, from the NGO Impacto, which
aims to reduce poverty and income inequality in South America. “The
community also invited civil society and state, federal and even
international authorities to work in the legitimisation of the collective
heritage of indigenous peoples.” Impacto will be working together with the
Mixe community in search of more widespread protections for “the knowledge
and the patrimony” of its indigenous people.
The case between Isabel Marant and the Mixe community has been further
complicated after the Guardian contacted the designer’s office and was told
that another designer had also accused the designer of stealing their
design. Fellow French fashion house Antik Batik has reportedly taken
already “summoned” Isabel Marant as they believe they hold the copyright on
the design. “Before the district court of Paris, Isabel Marant is fighting
to set the record straight: she has presented submissions which expressly
point out that these designs come from the village of Santa Maria
Tlahuitoltepec in the province of Oaxaca, in Mexico,” read a statement from
the fashion house.
“Moreover, Ms Isabel Marant, after tracing the true origin of these
clothes, officially informed the court: ‘For her part, Ms Isabel Marant
does not claim to be the author of this tunic and these designs’.” As of
yet, is seems that the indigenous community is unaware of the claims from
Antik Batik and Marant’s statement regarding her designs.
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