Zimmermann seeks agreement with members of the Mazatec community
An Australian fashion brand has offered to pay compensation to indigenous artisans whose designs it was accused of plagiarizing and proposed negotiating an agreement to allow it to sell its culturally “inspired” garments.
Zimmermann, a fashion house that has stores around the world, with drew a dress from its 2021 collection last month after facing accusations by members of the Mazatec community in the Cañada region of Oaxaca that it plagiarized the design of a traditional huipil, a loose-fitting tunic commonly worn by both indigenous and non-indigenous women in Mexico.
The cut of the company’s Riders Paneled tunic dress, the birds and flowers embroidered on it and its colors all resemble a traditional Mazatec huipil.
Zimmermann apologized for using the design “without [giving] appropriate credit to the cultural owners of this form of dress and for the offense this has caused.”
Days after the company issued its apology, members of the Oaxaca Institute of Crafts (IOA), a state government organization, spoke with Malcolm Carfrae, a fashion consultant hired by Zimmermann to liaise with Mexican artisans.
