Mexico accuses Chinese company "Shein" of using Mexican fabrics

The Mexican government on Friday accused the Chinese retail giant specializing in fast fashion, "Shein," of stealing designs of local Mexican fabrics to manufacture "a large number of clothes."

The Ministry pointed out that through the website of the Chinese company, they detected "a significant quantity of clothing displaying elements specific to the culture and identity of the Nahua community of San Gabriel Chilac, in the state of Puebla."

The Ministry, which sent a protest letter to "Shein," stated that the Chinese company used "patterns depicting roses" on one of its shirts.

It stated that these indigenous people "do not have any means to compete in the market with industrially produced clothing, and in addition to the economic damage, there is also moral harm."

Mexican authorities requested that "Shein" publicly clarify "on what basis the company relies on cultural expressions that represent collective ownership, using cultural elements whose origin is fully documented."

The Mexican government and indigenous communities have previously accused numerous clothing manufacturing companies of cultural appropriation.

Mexico filed a lawsuit in 2021 against clothing manufacturing companies, including the Chinese "Shein," the Spanish "Inditex," and the American companies "Patagonia" and "Anthropologie," for using Mexican fabrics in their designs.

In 2020, Mexico also filed a lawsuit against French fashion designer Isabel Marant, who later apologized to the Mexican government and one of the indigenous groups in Michoacán (west).




AFP