Adidas, a sportswear corporation, is being accused by Mexican authorities of copying craftsmen in southern Mexico because of a new sandal style that resembles the traditional Indigenous footwear known as huaraches.
Authorities claim this is not the first instance of traditional Mexican handicrafts being imitated, and the scandal has spurred accusations of cultural appropriation by the footwear firm. Local authorities have requested that Adidas remove the shoe model due to these concerns.
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On Friday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum stated that her government was drafting legislative changes to stop the imitation of Mexican handicrafts and that Adidas was already in negotiations with officials in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca to compensate those who were copied.
The Oaxaca Slip-On, a sandal designed by American designer Willy Chavarr for Adidas Originals, is the design at the heart of the dispute. The sandals are strikingly reminiscent of traditional Mexican huaraches, with thin leather straps braided in a similar fashion. The Adidas sneakers feature a chunkier sports shoe sole in place of flat leather ones.
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Mexican authorities claim that Adidas’ design incorporates features from the Zapotec Indigenous people’ cultural history in Oaxaca, namely in the municipality of Villa Hidalgo de Yal gua. In Mexico, handicrafts represent a vital source of employment for almost half a million people nationwide. About 10% of the GDP of states like Oaxaca, Jalisco, Michoac, and Guerrero comes from this business.
The Adidas shoes were a poor imitation of the type of work that Mexican artists spend their time and care to create, according to Viridiana Jarqu n Garc a, a huaraches producer and vendor in the capital of Oaxaca.
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The artistry is disappearing. In front of her little station filled with leather shoes, she declared, “We’re losing our tradition.”
Oaxaca authorities have demanded that Adidas issue a public apology and withdraw the Oaxaca Slip-On, calling the design “cultural appropriation” that may be illegal in Mexico.
Oaxaca state Governor Salom Jara Cruz chastised Adidas’ design in a public letter to the company’s leadership, stating that artistic inspiration is insufficient to justify the use of traditional expressions that give communities a sense of identity.
He went on to say that culture is appreciated rather than sold.
In a letter dated Friday afternoon, Adidas replied that it acknowledges the significance of the criticisms and places a high importance on the cultural diversity of Mexico’s Indigenous people. It asked to meet with local representatives to talk about ways to make amends for the harm done to Indigenous communities.
The dispute comes after years of attempts by Mexican craftsmen and the government to retaliate against large international apparel companies that they claim are stealing traditional patterns.
Manufacturers such as Zara, Anthropologie, and Patowl were asked by the federal government in 2021 to publicly explain why they appropriated Indigenous clothing designs from Oaxaca and sold them in their stores.
Authorities in Mexico now claim that they are attempting to safeguard artists by drafting more stringent laws. However, “they also want to set guidelines to not deprive artists of the opportunity to trade or collaborate with several of these companies that have very broad commercial reach,” said Marina Nez, Mexico’s undersecretary of cultural development.
