Who wore it better? Cultural appropriation in the fashion industry. How international law fails to safeguard indigenous peoples’ traditional clothing

Abstract

This thesis explores the issue of cultural appropriation in the fashion industry, with a specific focus on the appropriation of Indigenous Peoples’ traditional clothing, offering an extensive analysis that is currently missing. Fashion designers commonly draw on Indigenous Peoples’ artistic expressions. In most cases, this is done without an agreement with the respective Indigenous group that created the artistic expressions, and the fashion industry profits at the expense of Indigenous communities. By applying a socio-legal approach combined with a critical legal analysis, the thesis examines the harm this behaviour causes to Indigenous Peoples and whether International Law can offer protection. Ultimately, the analysis will show that Western legal frameworks fail to protect Indigenous Peoples’ traditional clothing from fashion appropriation. Even the latest legal protection mechanisms, the Draft Articles on the protection of TCEs, will prove insufficient while still in negotiation. A structural exclusion becomes evident, bringing to light the need for alternative approaches. In a final step, the thesis presents an extra-legal tool and, in doing so, introduces six core values to consider in efforts to address fashion appropriation. Keywords: Cultural Appropriation, Fashion, Indigenous Peoples, Traditional Cultural Expressions, Intellectual Property Law, International Cultural Heritage Law, International Human Rights Law