The German company Adidas reached a reparation agreement with indigenous artisans from the Mexican state of Oaxaca for the improper cultural appropriation of the traditional huarache (sandals) of the Yalálag community, whose design has already been removed from the market by the brand, the Mexican Government reported this Friday.
“There were meetings with the affected community, in those meetings they were accompanied by the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (Inpi) and Copyright (Indautor), which are the two bodies in charge of this according to the law and several agreements were reached with the brand,” explained Marina Núñez Bespalova, undersecretary of Cultural Development of the Ministry of Culture of Mexico, during the presidential conference.
Núñez added that the “compensation agreement cannot yet be announced publicly but it has to do with some infrastructure that the community itself requested.”
The official said that after the agreement “some type of collaboration will be thought about later” and that the footwear will not be sold, “those shoes were taken off the market immediately” after the complaint.
Adidas’ ‘Oaxaca slip-on’ sandals, presented on August 4, were a design made in collaboration with the American Willy Chavarría.
More context: Adidas apologizes for shoes that replicated Oaxacan huarache
On August 8, the company requested in a letter to the Government of Oaxaca to establish a dialogue to repair the damage against the municipality of Villa Hidalgo Yalálag, in the Sierra Norte of Oaxaca.
In response, the Secretary of Culture of Oaxaca, Flavio Sosa, announced that they would ask the company to recognize that the design “historically” belongs to Villa Hidalgo Yalálag, repair the damage and assume the commitment of non-repetition, in addition to withdrawing the product from the market.
That same day, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said that huaraches are “collective intellectual property,” so “there has to be compensation” and “the heritage law must be complied with.”
Adidas offered a public apology, on August 21, for the misappropriation of the traditional huarache of the Yalálag community in the state of Oaxaca, southern Mexico, which was the “inspiration” of the model launched by the sportswear brand.
And he reaffirmed his “commitment” to “work collaboratively with the Yalálag community,” through a “dialogue based on respect, listening and recognition of their cultural heritage.”
With information from EFE.
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