Shein in turn accused of cultural appropriation. The Mexican government on Friday implicated the Chinese fast-fashion giant, which it believes plagiarized indigenous Mexican patterns for the manufacture of “various garments.”
On the website of the Chinese company, “several garments with distinctive and characteristic elements of the culture and identity of the Nahua people of San Gabriel Chilac, (from the state of) Puebla” have been identified, the Ministry of Culture indicated.
The ministry, which delivered a protest letter to Shein, noted in particular the use of a “floral pattern” on one of its T-shirts.
Mexico thus asked Shein to “publicly explain on the basis that” the company “privatizes a cultural expression that is nevertheless collective property, using cultural elements whose origin is perfectly documented.”
Other signs accused in the past
Several fashion brands have been accused in the past of cultural appropriation by the Mexican government and the indigenous communities themselves.
In 2021, Mexico had already denounced the Chinese company Shein, as well as the Spanish Inditex and the American Anthropologie and Patowl for using Mexican designs on their clothing.
Denouncing cultural misappropriation, the country also denounced, in 2020, the French designer Isabel Marant, who later apologized to the government and to a community in Michoacán (west).
Source: BFM TV
