Isabel Marant is cleared of misappropriating traditional Mexican designs

By

Francelia Rodriguez Ceballos

Published
Dec 8, 2015

A court in Paris has cleared French designer Isabel Marant of plagiarism accusations presented against her by Mexico’s Tlahuitoltepec community in the latest instalment of a misappropriation dispute that also included the French label Antik Batik. The fashion designer went under fire earlier this year after the Tlahuitoltepec community claimed she had copied ancient traditional designs in her spring/summer 2015 Etoile line. 

“The court not only upheld that the design came from the said village, but that Antik Batik couldn’t claim any property rights on it either,” commented Marant’s lawyer Jean-Marc Felzenszwalbe.

According to Isabel Marant’s office, the fellow French house Antik Batik had laid claim to the Marant blouse in February 2015, initiating legal proceedings of their own.

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Isabel Marant declared earlier this year the designs had indeed taken inspiration from the traditional Mexican blouses and that she did not “claim to be the author of this tunic and these designs”.

Further, the designer’s lawyer, Felzenszwalbe, said the French designer plans to meet with Mexico’s ambassador in France to discuss a possible collaboration with the villagers of Mexico’s Oaxaca.