Ralph Lauren accused of ‘immoral plagiarising’ of Indigenous designs

“Hey Ralph (Lauren): we already realised that you just actually like Mexican designs,” author and researcher Beatriz Gutierrez mentioned in an Instagram put up on Thursday.

“Nevertheless, by copying these designs you’re committing plagiarism, which is unlawful and immoral.”

The put up exhibits a photograph of a coat with vibrant Indigenous motifs hanging in a retailer. The label reads Ralph Lauren.

The corporate didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark from Reuters, which discovered the garment promoting on a division retailer web site for $US360 ($A571).

It has beforehand apologised over accusations of cultural appropriation in separate incidents.

“Hopefully you restore the harm to the unique communities that do that work with love and never for revenue,” Gutierrez added, attributing the designs to the Indigenous communities of Contla and Saltillo.

President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador has launched an intense marketing campaign to reclaim relics of Mexico’s pre-Columbian heritage since taking workplace in 2018, together with lodging complaints towards public sale homes in america and Europe, and recovering dozens of Mexican antiques.

In July, the Mexican authorities additionally requested Chinese language trend retailer Shein to clarify its use of indigenous Mayan parts in one among its items, inflicting it to take away the garment from its web site.

The federal government has made comparable complaints towards France’s Louis Vuitton, Venezuelan designer Carolina Herrera, Spain’s Zara and US retailer Anthopologie.

-AAP