(9 Aug 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Oaxaca, Mexico – 8 August 2025
1. Various of traditional huarache sandals displayed in a Oaxaca market
2. Traditional Mexican huarache
3. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Susan García, vendor:
"It is not okay (to copy) because this product is handcrafted. To make a Yalalag sandal it takes an artisan a week. It’s not like them (Adidas), who have their industry and they’re going to do the weaving with machines, and it won’t be 100% leather. No, because to use the type of leather our artisans have here and to make the type of weaving they do, it takes days. It’s not like an industry that does it like that, and I think that legacy of what the Yalalag sandal weaving is will be lost."
4. People checking huaraches at a market
5. Various of traditional huarache sandals
6. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Viridiana Jarquín, vendor:
"We are losing our tradition of using a type of sandal with a tire sole, which is commonly more durable here in our land. So for them to come and put a different sole, like that of a sneaker, is not fair because we can’t use it as it should be. So for me, it’s disgusting that these types of people come out and say they want to make a cheap copy of what true craftsmanship is here in Oaxaca."
7. Various of traditional huarache sandals
8. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Mario Ruiz Allende, huarache sandal artisan:
"Yes, it affects us because it means they are mocking us, they are copying us. And yes, it affects us a lot, but no, we don’t have the solution. It’s other people who should support our craftsmanship so it can move forward."
9. Various of traditional huarache sandals
10. Various of Oaxaca city
STORYLINE:
Artisans and merchants in the Mexican state of Oaxaca are calling out sportswear company Adidas for plagiarizing the traditional huarache sandal, alleging that a new design is strikingly similar to the Indigenous footwear.
For Viridiana Jarquín García, a huaraches vendor in Oaxaca’s capital, the Adidas shoes were a “cheap copy” of the kind of work that Mexican artists take time and care to craft.
“The artistry is being lost. We’re losing our tradition," she said in front of her small booth of leather shoes.
The controversy has fueled accusations of cultural appropriation by the footwear brand, with authorities saying this is not the first time traditional Mexican handicrafts have been copied. Citing these concerns, local authorities have asked Adidas to withdraw the shoe model.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Friday that Adidas was already in talks with authorities in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca to provide “compensation for the people who were plagiarized," and that her government was preparing legal reforms to prevent the copying of Mexican handicrafts.
The design at the center of the controversy is the “Oaxaca Slip-On," a sandal created by U.S. designer Willy Chavarría for Adidas Originals.
The sandals feature thin leather straps braided in a style that is unmistakably similar to the traditional Mexican huaraches. Instead of flat leather soles, the Adidas shoes tout a chunkier, sports shoe sole.
“To use the type of leather our artisans have here and to make the type of weaving they do, it takes days,” explained Susana García, a huarache vendor at a market downtown Oaxaca.
According to Mexican authorities, Adidas’ design contains elements that are part of the cultural heritage of the Zapotec Indigenous communities in Oaxaca, particularly in the town of Villa Hidalgo de Yalálag.
AP Video shot by Jamilet Carranza López
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