Isabel Marant and Antik Batik Lose Case Over Oaxacan Plagiarism Scandal
Isabel Marant and fashion company Antik Batik have both been told by a court that neither have the rights to original designs by the Oaxacan people.
According to WWD, a court has ruled that Marant and Antik Batik have no copyrights over the indigenous designs and therefore have no right to ban the Oaxacan community from selling their own designs.
The news comes after rumors spread of the brands issuing a pantent to claim ownership of the designs, causing anger from the Oaxacan community and Latinos everywhere, reported The Guardian.
Several Twitter users shared their support fotr the Oaxacan people by sharing photos of their original blouses with the hashtag #MiBlusaDeTlahui. Singer and musician Susana Harp shared several photos showing how similar Marant's blouse was to the original designs.
Plagio! : "Blusa" de diseñador en Neiman Marcus. Es IDENTICA al Huipil de Tlahuitoltepec,Oax. @elwesomx @lopezdoriga pic.twitter.com/4AW44vDKLU — Susana Harp (@SusanaHarp) January 4, 2015
Foto de la Banda filarmónica de mujeres de Tlahui con su Huipil y foto de la "blusa de diseñador" Diseño robado! pic.twitter.com/1l2dvxzC5R — Susana Harp (@SusanaHarp) January 4, 2015
The mayor of the town, Erasmo Hernandez, denied any knowledge of the patent document, but Regino Montes, the secretary of Indigenous Matters, said a lawsuit will be filed.
"We are facing an obvious transgression of the Mixe people by companies who seek to rob them of their cultural heritage and intellectual property rights, recognised even by the United Nations," Montes stated.
According to Jezebel, Marant, who denied plagiarizing and claiming ownership, was also being sued by Batik, who expressed that the French fashion house stole some designs for their Spring/Summer 2015 collection.
"The court not only upheld that the design came from the said village, but that Antik Batik couldn't claim any property rights on it either," said Jean-Marc Felzenszwalbe, Marant's lawyer.
The designer received a lot of backlash for the similarities between her blouses and those of the Oaxacan people. Two different protests, which called the designer a thief, were held in front of the designer's Soho flagship store in New York City.
Felzenszwalbe defended Marant's blouse, which was sold for $290, and explained that the designer was not plagiarizing but was actually inspired by the culture and its people, who sold their clothing for a few pesos.
"In this village there is plenty of designs that deal with the same vocabulary, same colors and same kind of patterns. Both companies were inspired by them."
Marant is rumored to be meeting the Mexican ambassador in France to discuss working with the Oaxacan community and giving them compensation and recognition for their designs.
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