Mara Hoffman and cultural appropriation.

I have been pondering whether or not to write about this for more than a few days, in fact, ever since I saw this beautiful dress on a pinterest board. The more I thought about it, the more I convinced myself that this was something that had to be talked about. After a few mouse clicks I found out that the designer behind the pretty dress was Mara Hoffman and that there is in fact a whole line of clothing with these patterns:  swimsuits, bikinis, coverups, pants...

As a Mexican, I recognized these designs straight away: they come from traditional embroidery works, handmade by the Otomi people, in the small town of Tenango de Doria, Hidalgo (which is also why these textiles are also sometimes referred to as Tenangos). The origin of this specific tradition is neatly summarized in this article, from where I took this excerpt:


"Many motifs common to tenangos are believed to be inspired by the ancient wall paintings found in nearby caves. There are also similarities between tenango embroidered patterns—such as the depiction of plants, animals and natural forces—and the designs found in the cut-bark paper craft known as amate, practiced by Otomí shamans for thousands of years."

The truth is, these textiles represent not only expert craftmanship, but are also a means of cultural expression, a reflection of their particular cosmovision that goes back to times immemorial. We are facing an art form in its own right:

"Tenangos evoke a spirit of magical realism, merging the real and the mythical. They provide a link to their storied past and a gateway to the future, providing a sense of cultural identity and a means of trading on the international stage. Like the collective memory of the Otomí, tenangos, in fiber and filament, preserve and perpetuate the history of the region and the traditions of the Otomí people."

Image by Teyacapan via here

Which is why I was enraged, and could not believe what I was reading when I saw the description of these garments in Mara Hoffman's website simply as: "colorful exotic animal print" or "colorful embroidered animal print". WTF !!! Where is the credit? Is this plain old plagiarism? I understand that fashion can be art, and that in art, inspiration comes from everywhere. But when that is the case, you should name your sources. As it seems, the patterns were just taken, calcated, directly copied. A matter of cultural appropriation in any case:

"cultural appropriation is the adoption of some specific elements of one culture by a different cultural group. It describes acculturation or assimilation, but can imply a negative view towards acculturation from a minority culture by a dominant culture.It can include the introduction of forms of dress or personal adornment, music and art, religion, language, or social behavior. These elements, once removed from their indigenous cultural contexts, can take on meanings that are significantly divergent from, or merely less nuanced than, those they originally held."

I can only hope that the designer will try and mend this, by giving proper credit and perhaps, more importantly, by contributing to the communities from which she stole took her ideas.

 Post edit This same plagiarism was done by Anthropologie, with  their Vanessa Virginia Folk Art Dress (that was soon removed from retail).

Most recently, the Spanish brand Mango also stole took these patterns for a pullover that they simply called "Jersey bordado floral" (no longer available, either).