Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller accuses Ralph Lauren of plagiarizing indigenous designs from the communities of Contla and Saltillo

Beatriz Gutiérrez Müllerwife of the president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and head of a commission on cultural affairs, accused on Thursday the American designer Ralph Lauren of plagiarizing indigenous designs to make one of their garments.

The American fashion house, for its part, apologized this Friday and said it was open “to dialogue.”

“Hey Ralph: we already realized that you really like Mexican designs (…). However, by copying these designs you incur plagiarism, and as you know, plagiarism is illegal and immoral,” he wrote in his network account Instagram the wife of the prime minister.

Gutiérrez Müller accompanied his claim with the image of a colorful casual jacket that is displayed in a store with the label “Ralph Lauren”.

In addition, he explained that the designs used in the garment correspond to textile creations from the communities of Contla and Saltillo.

The garment is also marketed in various online stores under the name of striped belted cardigan and has an average cost of 300 dollars, found the AFP.

“At least acknowledge it. And hopefully you compensate the damage to the original communities that do this work with love and not for millionaire profit,” added the also writer and historian, who coordinates a committee of historical and cultural affairs, on an honorary basis.

For its part, the Ralph Lauren firm said in a statement that the piece had been removed from its portfolio “months ago.”

We are deeply sorry that this has happened and, as always, we are open to dialogue on how we can improve.”

“We are surprised to learn that this product is selling (…) When our team discovered months ago that this was in our product line, we issued a strict directive to remove the item from all channels,” argued the US firm.

Mexico denounced in 2021 other fashion houses, such as the Chinese Sheinthe Spanish Inditex and the americans Anthropologie y Patowlfor using Mexican designs in their garments.

Due to cultural misappropriation, the country also complained in 2020 about the French designer Isabel Marantwho later apologized to the government and an indigenous community in Michoacán.

In 2019, the Ministry of Culture also denounced the firm of Carolina HerreraVenezuelan designer based in the United States, for having replicated colorful embroidery typical of the Tenango community.