TAEC

Italian fashion brand Max Mara is under fire for allegedly plagiarizing indigenous designs of the Oma ethnic group in Laos.

In an online petition on change.org, the Traditional Arts Ethnology Centre (TAEC) accused Max Mara of digitally duplicating the traditional motifs to factory-produced patterns without the knowledge of and compensation for the indigenous group. "The company has not acknowledged the Oma in marketing, labeling, or display of the collection in their stores and online shop, nor has compensation has been paid," the petition reads which has garnered 5,623 votes as of this writing.



CHECK THE PETITION HERE: Urge Max Mara to pull plagiarised ethnic designs from their stores

Max Mara is a fashion brand established in 1951 by Achille Maramotti. At present, the brand operates 2,200 stores in 105 countries. The Oma tribe is a small agricultural community in Northern Laos, northern Vietnam, and southern China. They are estimated to be lower than 2,000 in Laos.

Take a look at their designs:

TAEC

TAEC

TAEC

..and the price!


TAEC, a social enterprise founded to promote ethnic cultural heritage in Laos, demands Max Mara the following:

-Pull the clothing line from its stores;
-Publicly commit to not plagiarizing the designs again;
-Donate 100% of the proceeds already earned from the sale of the garments to an organization of its choice that advocates for the intellectual property rights of ethnic minorities.

In a petition update dated April 18, 2019, TAEC claimed that Max Mara "continue to deny wrongdoing, and refuse to explore the possibility of any misuse of the Oma's traditional designs."

TAEC describes that "traditional clothing is still a vital part of the identity and pride of Oma people-hanspun, indigo-dyed garments with vibrant red embroidery and applique is the distinctive and unique to their group."

The group further added that the earnings from the distinctive crafts are vital and are used to improve nutrition, health, and education in the communities.

What should Max Mara do?