'Curbing Cultural Appropriation in the Fashion Industry' (
CIGI Paper No. 213) by Brigitte Vezina
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The fashion industry has faced several accusations of cultural appropriation over the past decade. For example, American clothing retailer Urban Outfitters made headlines in 2011 when it issued Navajo-themed items, including underwear with traditional patterns, much to the discontent of the Navajo Nation. Likewise, French designer Isabel Marant was criticized in 2015 for designing a dress similar to a traditional blouse that has been made for centuries by the Mixe people, an Indigenous community in Mexico. Cultural appropriation may be summarily described as the taking, by a member of a dominant culture, of a cultural element from a minority culture, without consent, attribution or compensation.
Cultural appropriation cases spark passionate debate because while fashion’s borrowing of stylistic elements from other cultures is common practice, it can, in reality, be offensive to the holders of traditional cultures. Misinterpretation or disregard for the cultural significance of a traditional cultural expression (TCE), even if unintentional, can have drastic consequences, both culturally and economically. Calls for action to curb appropriation emphasize a need for Indigenous peoples to have better control over their TCEs, including through the intellectual property system and in line with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Vezina argues
The fashion industry has faced several accusations
of cultural appropriation over the past decade.
For example, American clothing retailer Urban
Outfitters made headlines in 2011 when it issued
Navajo-themed items, including underwear with
traditional patterns, much to the discontent of
the Navajo Nation. Likewise, French designer
Isabel Marant was criticized in 2015 for designing
a dress similar to a traditional blouse that has
been made for centuries by the Mixe people,
an Indigenous community in Mexico. Cultural
appropriation may be summarily described as
the taking, by a member of a dominant culture,
of a cultural element from a minority culture,
without consent, attribution or compensation.
Cultural appropriation cases spark passionate
debate because while fashion’s borrowing of
stylistic elements from other cultures is common
practice, it can, in reality, be offensive to the
holders of traditional cultures. Misinterpretation
or disregard for the cultural significance of a
traditional cultural expression (TCE), even if
unintentional, can have drastic consequences,
both culturally and economically. Calls for
action to curb appropriation emphasize a
need for Indigenous peoples to have better
control over their TCEs, including through the
intellectual property (IP) system and in line
with the United Nations Declaration on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
Cultural appropriation may be explained, in
part, by the jarring relationship between TCEs
and IP, in particular copyright. While TCEs, such
as traditional designs or motifs, are a product
of the human mind, extant copyright law fails
to provide adequate protection to TCEs, casting
most of them into the public domain and thus
making them vulnerable to appropriation. For
instance, protection remains unavailable for TCEs
that have been passed down the generations
and thus fail to meet the originality criterion.
Drawing from actual cases of cultural appropriation
in the fashion industry and relying on IP laws
and principles, in particular moral rights, a number of recommendations may guide fashion
designers into adopting respectful behaviour in
relation to the use of TCEs in their creations.
Centrally, several concrete policy, legal and
practical solutions can be developed at the
international level to put an end to cultural
appropriation: the IP system can be adapted to
offer adequate protection for TCEs; awareness can
be raised among fashion designers and consumers
alike so as to deter cultural appropriation; and
initiatives can be carried out to strategically
support Indigenous fashion designers.
Cultural appropriation is not confined to
the world of fashion but manifests itself in
other sectors, such as film, music and art.
Furthermore, from an Indigenous, holistic
viewpoint, TCEs are intrinsically linked to
traditional knowledge, and developments in
the protection of TCEs can positively impact
the protection of traditional knowledge.
