MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s National Institute of Indigenous Peoples called on the U.S. retailer Anthropologie on Wednesday to stop copying a design used by the Mixe Indigenous community.
The institute said in a statement that Anthropologie’s “Marka embroidered shorts” copy a Mixe embroidery design from the poor village of Tlahuitoltepec, which is in the hills east of the capital of Mexico’s southern state of Oaxaca.
The shorts bear a pattern of blue flowers that the villagers say copies a traditional blouse design. The institute said the Mixes did not give permission for their design to be used, and called on Anthropologie to stop selling the shorts.
Anthropologie’s parent, Urban Outfitters Inc., did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Associated Press
