French brand Cézanne apologizes after a video in Mexico with a Zapotec woman

French brand Sézane He apologized on Wednesday after a photo and video session with an elderly woman
for an indigenous community who caused a scandal
in MexicoThe current authorities say they are particularly sensitive to respect for indigenous peoples.

“I want to express my deepest apologies for my mistakes,” Sézane founder Morgane Sézalory wrote.

open investigation

His message was published in English on Tuesday le compte Instagram de l’ONG Unusual paintings, who previously posted the video two days ago. The picture shows an elderly indigenous woman, seated and wearing a green jacket, photographed by several young people who speak French, some of them laughing or not wearing a mask. The lady is then invited by a member of the team to draw a few dance steps on a Mary Hopkin tube Those were the days. Sources in Mexico said the video was filmed indefinitely in the southwestern state of Oaxaca, and the woman is from the Zapotec community.

The Paris-based company was accused of “manipulating, using and displaying indigenous elders as part of its advertising,” in an official statement titled Ministry of Culture and the National Council for the Prevention of Discrimination (Conapred). The National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (INPI) also condemned “the Sézane brand’s exploitation of the image of indigenous peoples” and launched “a call for private brands and companies to stop using them. The exploitation of indigenous and Afro-Mexican peoples and communities as a cultural capital”. And the official body announced in its press statement, “An investigation has been opened to work in accordance with the law.”

“Blooming Civilization”

The current left-nationalist government has its sights set on international fashion brands that, according to the Mexican CEO, are plagiarizing original craft motifs in their clothing lines. Mexico condemns the company “cultural appropriation”. Another French designer, Isabel Marant, had already apologized in November 2020 After being accused of stealing the designs of the artisans of Puripica one of his coats.

Last November, the government organized meetings between international fashion brands (Isabel Marant, Spanish Agatha Ruiz de la Prada…) and artisans from communities across the country. Mexico has a population of 126 million, of whom 7.3 million (6.1% of the population) speak an indigenous language, according to the latest census of the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) dating from 2021. And 2% of the population (2.57 million) is defined by identity” Afro-Mexican” or “Afro-descendant”.