Mexican officials say sportswear giant took design idea from Indigenous community in country’s southern Oaxaca state.Mexico’s government is seeking compensation from Adidas, accusing the sportswear giant of cultural appropriation for launching a new shoe design strikingly similar to traditional Indigenous footwear known as huaraches.Adidas’s new Oaxaca Slip-On was created by United States fashion designer Willy Chavarria, who has Mexican heritage.But the footwear has drawn strong pushback from officials in Mexico’s southern state of Oaxaca, who say no authorisation was given by the Indigenous community, in the village of Villa de Hidalgo Yalalag, behind the original design.“It’s collective intellectual property. There must be compensation. The heritage law must be complied with,” Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum said during her regular news conference on Friday.“Big companies often take products, ideas and designs from Indigenous communities,” Sheinbaum said.“We are looking at the legal part to be able to support them,” she said.The government said that Adidas representatives had agreed to meet with Oaxaca authorities. Mexico’s Undersecretary of Cultural Development Marina Nunez Bespalova, right, alongside President Claudia Sheinbaum, left, at a news conference to condemn Adidas and US designer Willy Chavarria in Mexico City, Mexico, on August 8, 2025 [Handout/Presidency of Mexico via Reuters]In a public letter to Adidas, Oaxaca state governor, Salomon Jara Cruz, criticised the company’s design – which has a sneaker sole topped with the weave of huarache sandals – saying that “creative inspiration” is not a valid justification for using cultural expressions that “provide ident …
