Culture Theft.

I noticed something familiar when I was looking through the F/W collections from New York Fashion Week...

I came across some of the show snaps from Rodarte...

...and the patterns looked vaguely like designs from Central Australia...

After some googling...

...I discovered that Rodarte had tried to use Indigenous Australian art in their designs...

However,

...this unfortunately caused quite a scandal...

...as a number of Australians (Indigenous, and non-Indigenous) were very offended by this....

...because some believed that Rodarte (an American label) was exploiting the art of the Indigenous people...

Firstly,

...Rodarte (from California) admitted that they have never visited Australia...

I think some people may have been a bit irritated by that...

...because it doesn't appear as though they interacted with any indigenous Australian tribes...while borrowing indigenous art to design their collection...

(Photo Source: www.dailymail.co.uk)

...but..

...Rodarte stated that even though they have not visited Australia and they are not familiar with the spiritual meaning of Indigenous Australian art...

...they have a licensing agreement with an Aboriginal artist in the Northern Territory...

... to reproduce these Indigenous patterns in their collection...

In opposition to this...

...an Indigenous Australian spokesperson stated that she was shocked to see women parading around in ready-to-wear...

... when the people from whom this art is derived are living in extreme poverty in isolated parts of Australia (such as in my hometown, Broken Hill)...

I understand that Indigenous Australian groups require privacy and respect...

...and it is true that the standard of living for Indigenous Australians is in crisis in the year 2012...

...however, I am not sure about whether we should prosecute everyone who references certain cultures in their designs...

(...or whether it is even possible to separate CULTURE and DESIGN...)

For example...

...Orientalism (in all its stereotypical glory...) is a very common theme in fashion these days...

Carolina Herrera used Korean traditional dress as an inspiration for her Spring/Summer 2011 collection...

...here is her interpretation of the male Korean traditional hat... known as the Gat 갓... ;

Did Koreans get angry with Carolina Herrera? 

...I'm not sure... perhaps not...

...and then, as an extension of cultural referencing...

... I also have to consider whether I am being offensive when I personally wear Korean traditional dress;

Of course, I can understand both sides...

...the designer is trying to reference certain cultural images, and the cultural group is trying to protect their unique spiritually-valuable art from American designers...

... it makes us more cautious, but it is something we should consider in greater depth...