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Brand's cultural appropriation versus appreciation

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Brand's cultural appropriation versus appreciation

That grey area in pop culture that leads to "woke-washing"

Patricia Soares da Costa
Jun 9, 2021
3
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Brand's cultural appropriation versus appreciation

www.newspitality.com

Fashion designers have profited from incorporating or copying cultural designs, often produced by poverty-stricken communities, to resell as “boho chic”, without acknowledging their origins or fairly compensating communities.

👎 "Woke-washing" much?

👎 Product reviews on Nordstrom are calling out the $395 embroidered cotton peasant-style ‘Anna’ top labelled as ‘Palestinian’.

“Light-blue embroidery pays tribute to Nili Lotan’s (Israeli, NY based designer) Middle East roots on this peasant-style top cut from lightweight woven cotton”, reads the description. It appears to resemble the cross-stitch motifs on the Palestinian thobe, a traditional embroidered dress handmade and worn by Palestinian women since the 11th century.

Nordstrom

👎 Louis Vuitton pulled a $705 keffiyeh-style scarf from its virtual shelves after it was accused of culturally appropriation of Palestinian culture.

The traditional Arab headdress that’s become a symbol of Palestinian nationalism "is very near and dear to our hearts as Palestinians and to see it appropriated is highly offensive, especially during this time," the Council on American-Islamic Relations said.

Louis Vuitton

👎 Portuguese State takes on fashion designer Tory Burch over a €695 “copy” of the traditional ‘camisola poveira’, a sweater typical among the fishing community of Póvoa de Varzim, initially promoted as inspired by the Mexico Baja.

C.M. Póvoa de Varzim

👎 Mexican Ministry of Culture claims Zara used a pattern distinctive to the indigenous Mixteca community, without any benefit to the communities.

Zara / Inditex

👎 Isabel Marant also had to apologise.

Twitter avatar for @DiarioPresente
Diario Presente @DiarioPresente
#Plagio México pide explicación a la #diseñadora Isabel #Marant por usar elementos #mexicanos en sus #diseños ➡️ bit.ly/3n0XVCH
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12:15 AM ∙ Nov 6, 2020
6Likes3Retweets

👎 Gucci gets roasted for selling embroidery Indian kurta for $3,500.

Gucci

👎 Kim Kardashian is getting called out by people of the Hindu faith for participating in a photoshoot that used a sacred symbol. The "om" is considered one of the most important religious symbols, as the symbol of ultimate reality and consciousness.

Twitter avatar for @KimKardashian
Kim Kardashian West @KimKardashian
Image
Image
Image
4:14 PM ∙ May 23, 2021
59,239Likes2,544Retweets

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🥒 Plant based sustainable fashion or art good enough to eat?

🧸 Fun comes full circle with a green makeover

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Brand's cultural appropriation versus appreciation

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