Mexico complains about adidas sandal scandal
12/08/2025
Mr Chavarria’s most recent collection for adidas, unveiled in Puerto Rico on August 3, includes a slip on huarache shoe, based on a traditional leather sandal that artisan producers make by hand in the Mexican state of Oaxaca.
However, the adidas version has involved no work with those Oaxacan artisans and, at first, gave them no credit. After a series of complaints, Mr Chavarria issued a statement, apologising to the communities of Oaxacan for appropriating their traditional design ideas.
He said he was sorry not to have developed the project with traditional producers.
On August 8, Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, said she was aware of the sandal scandal and she said the government was considering submitting a formal legal complaint.
She commented: “Big companies often take products, ideas and designs from the indigenous communities of our country. In a certain way, they are usurping the creativity of our indigenous peoples. We are working on a new law that will give those communities additional guarantees.”
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