Luxury fashion brand Carolina Herrera accused of cultural appropriation by Mexican government

'It's not a tribute, it's plagiarism!'

The Mexican government has accused luxury fashion house Carolina Herrera of cultural appropriation.

According to the brand's website, its Resort 2020 collection “takes on the playful and colourful mood of a Latin holiday" and is about “visceral reactions of delight-eclectic patterns, unexpected silhouettes, pulsating energy”.

However, Mexico's culture secretary, Alejandra Frausto, has taken umbrage with the designs which she claims originate from indigenous communities.

In a letter of complaint sent to the fashion house and its new creative director, Wes Gordon, Frausto asked the brand to explain why it has used patterns “whose origins are well documented”.

“This is a matter of ethical consideration that obliges us to speak out and bring an urgent issue to the UN’s sustainable development agenda: promoting inclusion and making those who are invisible visible,” Frausto wrote. in a letter seen by Spanish language newspaper El Pais.

In the correspondence, Frausto singled out designs used on specific pieces from the collection which she felt were unique to certain regions of Mexico and their indigenous peoples.

The culture secretary suggested that a long white dress which featured embroidered bright animals, colours and flowers was derived from the culture of the Tenango de Doria community in the state of Hidalgo “where each piece of embroidery tells the story of the community and each element has a personal, family or community meaning”.

Fausto added that an additional two dresses incorporated elements from the famous traditional shawls of Saltillo in Coahuila state.

The collection has also been criticised on social media where a number of users have vilified the fashion brand for “pocketing millions” from hard-working artisans in Mexico.

“It's not a tribute, it's plagiarism!” one person wrote on Twitter.

Another added: “The problem is that she is going to throw millions into the bag with ideas that did not even occur to her, while the indigenous peoples are not gaining any of this profit. That's the disagreement.”

A third person simply commented: “How shameful”.

In a statement, Gordon said that the Resort 2020 collection has “an undeniable Mexican presence”.

“It’s something that jumps out at you and I always intended it to be something latent as a way of showing my love for this country and for all the incredible work I’ve seen there,” the creative director said.

“My admiration for the artisanal work has only grown as I have travelled to Mexico over the years.

“With this new collection, I have tried to highlight the importance of this magnificent cultural heritage.”

The intervention from Fausto comes just weeks after the Mexican government announced plans to allow indigenous groups to own the rights to their creations in a bid to prevent “plagiarism of their traditional designs”.

The news comes weeks after sportswear giant Nike apologised and withdrew one of its shoes from sale after an indigenous group in Panama claimed it had used its traditional “mola” pattern in its design.

The Air Force 1 “Puerto Rico” model was a limited edition version of one of the brand’s signature shoes and was not due to launch in stores until 6 June.

However, when images of the multi-coloured trainer were posted on social media, members of the Guna community of Panama accused the brand of “pirating”.

In a statement, Nike said: “We apologise for the inaccurate representation of the design origin for the Nike Air Force 1 'Puerto Rico' 2019.

"As a result, this product will no longer be available.”