A few days later, Mexico’s culture secretary Alejandra Frausto apparently wrote to the company to complain. According to Reuters, “the ministry demanded that Herrera ‘publicly explain on what basis it decided to make use of these cultural elements, whose origins are documented, and how this benefits the (Mexican) communities.’”
Wes Gordon subsequently told the New York Times that they were discussing these important issues internally, which is usually how these things go. It’s damage control time! Time to come up with a plan and an apology. But here’s an alternative idea: how about we come together to prevent it happening in first place. How about we convene spaces to amplify the voices of those we don’t normally make space for? Ask indigenous artisans and cultural custodians and elders to tell us what sort of fashion future they would like to see?
“This project could have had such great potential if you had input from indigenous groups that INVENTED these designs,” commented one woman, Stephanie Martinez, on Gordon’s Instagram. “We have been silenced and discredited, and you have continued this cycle of ignorance. As a designer, it is your responsibility to understand what kind of situation you put yourself in, especially when it is a project regarding a culture that is NOT yours.”
Hector Ali, an artisan producer from Hidalgo, also weighed in. He was “proud” to see his local Otomi embroidery on the world stage, but disappointed by the way it got there. It would be better, he wrote, if designers could “include the indigenous communities. I belong to a group called ZÄNÄ, we are more than 20 families and we produce wonderful pieces full of love, colour, effort and hope.” His hope? “That the work of each artisan is recognized and valued.”
It’s down to what advocate and Eco-Age co-founder Livia Firth calls “the handprint, the human stories” behind our fashion, textiles and accessories. Until we respect these, we’ll get nowhere.
In the latest Eco-Age Fashion Scapes film, Artisans in Guatemaya, the iconic American designer Donna Karan tells Firth, “The future is education… I would love to see [more] designers going into the fields, to work with these artisans.” Too often this is the missing step.
Watch Artisans in Guatemaya here or below.