Cultural Appropriation and the Global Fashion Industry
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Description
The global fashion industry is increasingly subject to accusations of cultural appropriation. We analyse why the fashion industry’s practices – in particular, its mashup-magpie mode of creativity and its rapid innovation cycle – make it a frequent target of these claims. We explain the challenges to legal protection for cultural designs; explore and critique the normative case for property claims in traditional cultural designs; and offer a qualified defence of the industry’s practice of re-interpreting those designs. Throughout, we suggest that many designs seen as originating in a particular culture have roots that extend outward to other cultures; this network of cultural interchange often undermines any particular ownership claim. And while appropriation can signal disrespect for source cultures and be objectionable for that reason, appropriation is not disrespectful per se. Indeed, there are strong normative arguments supporting many instances of appropriation.
First Page
316
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009519618.016
Source Publication
Fashion and Intellectual Property
Source Editors/Authors
David Tan, Jeanne Fromer, Dev Gangjee
Publication Date
10-27-2025
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Recommended Citation
Kal Raustiala & Christopher J. Sprigman,
Cultural Appropriation and the Global Fashion Industry,
Fashion and Intellectual Property
316
(2025).
Available at:
https://gretchen.law.nyu.edu/fac-chapt/2170
