Julia E Hubbel
1 min readMar 11, 2021

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Bonsu, this is a microcosm of the much larger issue of cultural appropriation without payment of gorgeous, innovative and distinct Native, Indigenous designs the world over. As someone who used to write about fashion, one need only point to Ralph Lauren as a first offender when it comes to Native American designs. There were some lawsuits against a few female designers for ripping off some Central American embroidery, and then more recently there's this: https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/designer-accused-of-plagiarizing-indigenous-designs/

I love a few African and Haitian designers for making BIG BUCKS using their own fabrics (of which I have many bolts, having spent plenty of time in African countries) and turning those designs into real dollars (See Stella Jean). The rest of the fashion world thinks nothing of traveling to these countries, photographing tribal art, then ripping said art off and calling it their own creations. It is hardly just Vuitton. Designers have no creativity? No worries. Climb in your fucking Lear jet, and go rip off people infinitely more creative than YOUR ass, make millions, take credit for what ain't yours and too bad so sad for the tribes you stole from. Don't. Get. Me. Started, Bonsu.

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Julia E Hubbel
Julia E Hubbel

Written by Julia E Hubbel

Stay tuned for some crossposting. Right now you can peruse my writing on Substack at https://toooldforthis.substack.com/ More to come soon.

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