Adidas stole sandal design from traditional Mexican artisans, Sheinbaum says

Retail·MexicoAdidas stole sandal design from traditional Mexican artisans, Sheinbaum saysBy Fabiola SánchezBy The Associated PressBy Fabiola SánchezBy The Associated Press A craft street sale featuring the huaraches typical of the Mexican state of Oaxaca.Getty ImagesMexican authorities are accusing sportswear company Adidas of plagiarizing artisans in southern Mexico, alleging that a new sandal design is strikingly similar to the traditional Indigenous footwear known as huaraches

The controversy has fueled accusations of cultural appriation by the footwear brand, with authorities saying this is not the first time traditional Mexican handicrafts have been copied

Citing these concerns, local authorities have asked Adidas to withdraw the shoe model

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Friday that Adidas was already in talks with authorities in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca to vide “compensation for the people who were plagiarized,” and that her government was preparing legal reforms to prevent the copying of Mexican handicrafts

The design at the center of the controversy is the “Oaxaca Slip-On,” a sandal created by U.S. designer Willy Chavarría for Adidas Originals

The sandals feature thin leather straps braided in a style that is unmistakably similar to the traditional Mexican huaraches

Instead of flat leather soles, the Adidas shoes tout a more chunky, sports shoe sole

According to Mexican authorities, Adidas’ design contains elements that are part of the cultural heritage of the Zapotec Indigenous communities in Oaxaca, particularly in the town of Villa Hidalgo de Yalálag

For Viridiana Jarquín García, a huaraches creator and vendor in Oaxaca’s capital, the Adidas shoes were a “cheap copy” of the kind of work that Mexican artists take time and care to craft. “The artistry is being lost

We’re losing our tradition,” she said in front of her small booth of leather shoes

Authorities in Oaxaca have called for the “Oaxaca Slip-On” to be withdrawn and demanded a public apology from Adidas, with officials describing the design as “cultural appriation” that may violate Mexican law

In a public letter to Adidas leadership, Oaxaca state Gov

Salomón Jara Cruz criticized the company’s design, saying that “creative inspiration” is not a valid justification for using cultural expressions that “vide identity to communities.” “Culture isn’t sold, it’s respected,” he added

Adidas responded in a letter Friday afternoon, saying that the company “deeply values the cultural wealth of Mexico’s Indigenous people and recognizes the relevance” of the criticisms

It requested to sit down with local officials and to discuss how it can “repair the damage” to Indigenous populations

The controversy s years of efforts by Mexico’s government and artisans to push back on major global clothing brands who they say copy traditional designs

Now, Mexican authorities say they’re trying to work out stricter regulations in an effort to tect artists

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