(Villa Hidalgo Yalalag) Artisans from a community in southern Mexico regretted this week, in testimonies that have come to AFP on Saturday, that the sports brand Adidas has copied their traditional sandal designs as part of a collaboration with the American artist Willy Chavarria.
The Mexican authorities had denounced in early August the fact that the model of “Oaxaca Slip-on” sandals of Adidas imitated a traditional design of this region without authorization from its creators. The Mexican government said that it would seek compensation from the German company for cultural appropriation.
The craftsmen, from the community of Villa Hidalgo Yalalag, in the southern state of Oaxaca, pointed out on Friday that the sandals (called Huaracches in Mexico) require meticulous work which has been carried out for several generations.
“We are doing a very laborious job with the activity of the Huarache,” Raymundo Cuevas told AFP, a craftsman of this locality of just over 1800 inhabitants.
Dozens of locality craftsmen work in rudimentary workshops to make Huaraches in hand.
“We are upset because in reality, behind these sandals, there is a great activity,” said Cuevas. “It is not correct that a company has found it easy to say” I will copy this model and get money from it “.
PHOTO JORGE PLATA, ARCHIVES REUTERS
Shoe shapes and materials used for the manufacture of traditional indigenous sandals are exhibited in a workshop at Villa Hidalgo Yalalag.
Another craftsman, Antolino Domínguez, said that the work of the Huaraches is the fruit of several generations at Villa Hidalgo Yalalag. “This comes from generations of our ancestors. This work they have copied to us dates back years, “he said.
Last week, the American creator of Mexican origin Willy Chavarria recognized that his sandals developed for Adidas induced the name of the Mexican state of Oaxaca.
“I deeply regret that this model appropriated the name and was not developed in direct and significant partnership with the inhabitants of Oaxaca,” said the creator in a press release transmitted to AFP, admitting that the launch of the sandals “is not up to respect and the collaborative approach” that the community of Villa Hidalgo Yalalag deserves.
For his part, Adidas had apologized and reaffirmed his commitment to collaborate with the local community in a “respectful dialogue which honors its cultural heritage”.
