The controversial blouse was created in the Mayan communities “and its design would not be possible without knowledge ‘transmitted from generation to generation'”
The Ministry of Culture of the Government of Mexico sent a letter to the company SHEIN asking them to clarify the market launch of the piece “Fan-shaped top with floral print”.
“The Ministry of Culture of the @GobiernoMX speaks out strongly against the undue cultural appropriation that the company @SHEIN_Official makes of blouses or short huipiles that are made in various Mayan communities in the states of Yucatan, Campeche and Quintana Roo,” says the message posted on social networks, and containing the letter.
The controversial blouse is identical to a garment that the artisan brand YucaChulas designed in 2017, “except for the edges of the neck, sleeves and the finish of the final bows; which is why we speak out strongly against cultural misappropriation,” the letter reads.
In press release 571, the Secretariat points out that the SHEIN piece uses “cultural elements whose origin is fully documented”, which generate economic rewards in the communities that sell them. The blouse, short huipil, was created in the Mayan communities of Yucatan, Campeche and Quintana Roo, and its design would not be possible without knowledge “transmitted from generation to generation, product of the collective creativity of the Mayan people.”