Mexico’s government is seeking compensation from Adidas, accusing the sportswear giant of cultural appropriation for launching a new shoe design strikingly similar to traditional Indigenous footwear known as huaraches. Adidas’s new Oaxaca Slip-On was created by United States fashion designer Willy Chavarria, who has Mexican heritage. However, officials in Mexico’s southern state of Oaxaca say no authorization was given by the Indigenous community, in the village of Villa de Hidalgo Yalalag, behind the original design.
“It’s collective intellectual property. There must be compensation. The heritage law must be complied with,” Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum said during her regular news conference on Friday. “Big companies often take products, ideas and designs from Indigenous communities,” Sheinbaum said, adding that the government is looking into the legal aspects to support them. The government said that Adidas representatives had agreed to meet with Oaxaca authorities.
In a public letter to Adidas, Oaxaca state governor, Salomon Jara Cruz, criticized the company’s design, saying that “creative inspiration” is not a valid justification for using cultural expressions that “provide identity to communities.” “Culture isn’t sold, it’s respected,” he said. The Oaxaca governor emphasized that the design reflects the environment, history, and worldview of the community, and such dresses typically take a month to be created by the craftspeople.
For Viridiana Jarquin Garcia, 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. Handicrafts are a crucial economic lifeline in Mexico, providing jobs for about half a million people across the country. The industry accounts for approximately 10 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) of states such as Oaxaca, Jalisco, Michoacan, and Guerrero.
This controversy is the latest instance of Mexican officials denouncing major clothing brands or designers using unauthorized Indigenous art or designs from the region. Previous complaints have been raised about fast fashion juggernaut Shein, Spain’s Zara, and high-end labels Carolina Herrera and Louis Vuitton. In 2021, Mexico’s Ministry of Culture accused these brands of using patterns from indigenous groups in their designs without any benefit to the communities.
Mexico’s Deputy Culture Minister Marina Nunez confirmed Adidas had contacted Oaxacan officials to discuss “restitution to the people who were plagiarised.” Neither Adidas nor the designer Chavarria immediately responded to requests for comment from reporters. Chavarria had previously told Sneaker News that he had intended to celebrate his cultural heritage through his work with Adidas. “I’m very proud to work with a company that really respects and elevates culture in the truest way,” he said.