Posłuszny Bartosz, Cultural Appreciation or Cultural Appropriation. Protection of Traditional Garments and Textiles in the Fashion Industry under the Industrial Design Regime

In 2015 Isabel Marant – a renowned French fashion designer – introduced her spring/summer collection. After the show, the indigenous Mixe community, originating from Santa Maria Tlahuitoltepec (Mexico), claimed that Marant copied their 600-year-old traditional design called huipil on one of the presented blouses. Media outrage began and the case started to live its own life. Eventually, the designer formally denied owning any copyright to the Santa Maria Tlahuitoltepec embroidered blouses. However, this statement was caused by another fashion company’s – Antik Batik – claim regarding copyright protection of the design. Therefore, two entities completely unrelated to the Mixe community started a conflict over a design that originally was not their property. The Judicial Court of Paris eventually ruled against Antik Batik and held that the design came from the Mixe community, and neither Antik Batik nor Isabel Marant could claim any property rights to it. However, no compensation was...