In Mexico, an indigenous "fashion week" against plagiarism
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It is a show of force for the Mexican left-wing government, which invited dozens of indigenous creators to exhibit their creations in the immense Los Pinos complex, the former official residence of the presidents now converted into a cultural center open to the public.
Until Sunday, this meeting entitled "Original" puts on sale garments and accessories such as the traditional "huipil", a blouse with finely embroidered motifs that vary from one town to another.
When temperatures drop at night, the open-air market ends with two fashion shows featuring indigenous creations and models, in this space filled with large gardens and renamed by the government the "official residence of the people of Mexico."
It is above all an activity against the plagiarism of motifs, embroideries and colors from the communities of Chiapas or Oaxaca (southeast) by French fashion houses and other countries.
"Plagiarism is not a tribute, theft is not the result of inspiration", repeated Alejandra Frausto, Secretary of Culture, on Thursday during the inauguration.
Frausto celebrated that a year ago a French stylist, Isabel Marant, apologized to the Mexican government for having used the traditional motifs of the Purépecha community for one of her coats.
A representative from the house of Isabel Marant is due to come on Saturday to speak directly with indigenous artisans, as well as the agent of a leading Spanish dressmaker, Agatha Ruiz De la Prada.
"It's robbery"
On Friday, two young stylists who came especially from Paris spoke with Ignacio Netzahualcóyotl and his partner Christian Janet, leaders of an artisan workshop set up in the state of Tlaxcala, east of the capital mexican.
"Plagiarism is the result of a lack of communication. Communication makes it possible to reach agreements," Netzahualcóyotl summed up after the meeting.
"We ask that our work be paid equally. The price must take into account the design, the patterns, the number of hours worked... This is what we have discussed today with these two stylists," he added after having presented his "serape" (piece of ornamental fabric) to the Parisians.
"We want to find a point of agreement with the artisans with whom we are going to work," added Théophile Delaeter, co-creator of the Calher Delaeter brand with the French-Mexican Alonso Calderón Hernández, on the side of the Parisians.
There is still a long way to go. In the aisles of the market, indigenous artisans complain about discovering more or less fine copies of their designs on the internet.
"A few months ago, we fought because we found a computer-reproduced huipil," said Candy Margarita de la Cruz Santiago, a young weaver from the state of Oaxaca (south).
"According to the new provisions we have had since last year, it is necessary to have the written consent of the communities when this type of textile art is going to be used for profit," explained a representative of the National Institute of Rights Author, Marco Antonio Morales Montes.
Mexico also calls for a debate at the World Intellectual Property Organization, he added.
"The law must be applied against the authors of plagiarism. It's theft," concluded an artisan weaver, Marta Serna Luis, 58.
© 2021 AFP
