The wife of the president of Mexico, Beatriz Gutierrez, accuses the American fashion designer Ralph Lauren of plagiarizing local motifs to create an article of clothing, AFP reports.

• “Listen, Ralph, I noticed that you really like Mexican motifs (…). However, by copying these designs, you are committing plagiarism, and as you know, plagiarism is illegal and immoral,” wrote the wife of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. in your Instagram account.

Gutierrez, who is a historian, accompanied the message with an image of a multicolored vest labeled “Ralph Lauren.”

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A post shared by Beatriz Gutierrez Muller (@beatrizgutierrezmuller)

The coat, published on various sites as a “striped cardigan with a belt”, costs an average of $300, writes News.ro with reference to AFP.

“I hope you make amends to the indigenous communities who do this work for love, not for profit or millionaires,” she adds.

The motifs used in the clothes for the American brand correspond, she said, to the designs of the communities of Contla (center) and Saltillo (north).

Mexican copyright law requires respect for all works considered popular or artisanal, and requires clear mention of the local community from which they originate in the case of commercial use.

In 2021, Mexico filed a complaint against fashion companies such as the Chinese company Shein, the Spanish company Inditex, and the American companies Anthropologie and Patowl, because they used Mexican motifs in their creations.

In 2020, Mexico filed a complaint against French fashion designer Isabelle Marant, who later apologized to the government and the indigenous community in Michoacán (west).

In 2019, the Ministry of Culture indicated that Carolina Herrera, a Venezuelan fashion designer based in the United States, recreated the colorful embroidery of the Tenango community (center).

Mexico is home to 56 ethnic groups, giving it an enormous wealth of crafts, especially textiles and embroidery.