Mexico’s culture ministry on Wednesday questioned French fashion designer Isabel Marant’s use of patterns from indigenous Mexican communities, marking the government’s latest complaint over high-fashion brands appropriating local styles. According to the ministry, Marant’s latest collection, including a long cape with stripes and starburst designs in gray and brown hues, includes elements from the Purepecha people of Mexico’s Michoacan state. “I ask you, Ms. Isabel Marant, to publicly explain on what grounds you privatize a collective property … and how its use benefits the creator communities,” Culture Minister Alejandra Frausto said in a letter to the designer.
