Adidas Originals/Reproduction
The controversial Oaxaca Slip-On isn’t even for sale yet, but it’s already in the sights of Mexican authorities.
Design has already been removed from the market by the brand, which has already apologized and committed to “working in collaboration with the Yalálag community” through a “dialogue based on respect, listening and recognition of their cultural heritage”.
Adidas reached an agreement with indigenous artisans from the Mexican state of Oaxaca for the cultural misappropriation of the traditional huarache (sandal) 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, which had the support of the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (Inpi) and the National Institute of Copyright (Indautor), the two bodies responsible for this issue according to the law, and several agreements were signed with the brand”, explained Marina Núñez Bespalova, Undersecretary of Cultural Development at the Mexican Ministry of Culture, during the press conference given by the Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum, quoted by the Spanish agency EFE.
Núñez added that the “compensation agreement cannot yet be publicly announced, but it refers to some infrastructure requested by the community itself.”
He also said that, after the agreement, “some type of collaboration will be considered later” and that the shoes will not be sold because “these shoes were immediately withdrawn from the market” after the complaint.
The ‘Oaxaca slip-on’ sandals, presented on August 4, were a design created in collaboration with North American Willy Chavarría.
On August 8, the company requested, in a letter addressed to the Government of Oaxaca, the establishment of a dialogue to repair the damage caused to the municipality of Villa Hidalgo Yalálag, in the Sierra Norte de 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 commit not to repeat it, in addition to withdrawing the product from the market.
Adidas issued a public apology on August 21 for the cultural misappropriation of the traditional huarache from the Yalálag community, in the state of Oaxaca (southern Mexico), which served as “inspiration” for the model launched by the sportswear brand.
And he reaffirmed his “commitment” to “working in collaboration with the Yalálag community” through a “dialogue based on respect, listening and recognition of their cultural heritage”.
