Somewhere in a galaxy far away in January 2011, a WGSN trend forecaster told a group of fashion journalists at a seminar that "Navajo" motifs would have been very popular in the next season. She was right, they actually did, inspiring a series of products, including Urban Outfitters' "Navajo Hipster Panty" and "Navajo Hip Flask". Unfortunately, the trend forecaster hadn't imagined that the Navajo Nation would have hit back filing a lawsuit in New Mexico, alleging trademark infringement and dilution, unfair competition, false advertising, violation of commercial practices law, and violation of the Indian Arts and Crafts Act.
Yet the history of fashion is rife with co-option and appropriation of traditional motifs, symbols, and patterns. Fashion fans may remember recent controversial incidents such as Dior's 2009 shoes with a heel shaped like an African Fertility Goddess; Rodarte's A/W 2012 collection being criticised by aboriginal law professor and member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Megan David for using the sacred art works of Australia's indigenous people, or Chanel apologising (albeit doing so in a vague way...) for the Metiers d’Art 2013-2014 collection that featured symbols of Native American dress, feathered headdresses, and bead work.
Fashion designers and critics dub as "transnational" or "multinational" these mixes that make the world sound and look like a vast flat area with no borders. Yet, while borrowing from foreign lands and national dress is not new, there are different ways of doing it.
This is the main theme of I piece I did for the May issue of Ural-based magazine WTF (What's The Fashion?), a publication for design, architecture and fashion fans.
The piece explores the issue through exhibitions, interviews with textile experts and with designers trying to change things, to remind readers that many cultures value their traditional textiles, garments, embroideries techniques and adornments among their most valuable assets and that we should not appropriate, but respect and collaborate. I'm embedding here a preview of the magazine. Enjoy!
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