A French fashion brand is under fire for a photo shoot involving Indigenous women in southern Mexico
3 min
By Kevin Sieff
Today at 1:41 p.m. EST
MEXICO CITY — A production team from the popular French fashion label Sézane landed in Oaxaca earlier this month to photograph its new collection, drawing on the vibrant colors and patterns created by local artisans in southern Mexico. But a video from one of those shoots, involving an Indigenous Mexican woman, has drawn widespread criticism, including from the Mexican government, which has launched an investigation into the incident.
The video shows members of Sézane’s production team photographing and filming an older Indigenous woman, Guillermina Gutiérrez, apparently wearing a mix of traditional clothing and Sézane apparel. A member of the Sézane team then asks Gutiérrez to dance as the cameras film. A pop song plays in the background.
The video was reposted across several Instagram accounts and websites, drawing widespread criticism for appearing to manipulate the Indigenous woman into serving as a part of the brand’s commercial campaign.
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https://www.instagram.com/p/CYeiZQvJuOM/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=embed_video_watch_again
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In a statement this week, the Mexican government’s National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (INPI) said that it “strongly condemns the misuse of the image of Indigenous Zapotec women by the French clothing brand Sézane.”
“These actions threaten the dignity of peoples and communities and reinforce racist stereotypes about Indigenous culture and traditions,” the institute said.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1011
More:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/01/14/szane-fashion-mexico-indigenous/
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Whole lot of condescention by the company people, as if they were featuring a doggie wearing an Easter outfit.
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French Fashion Crew Shows How to Be Horrible Foreigners in Mexico
French brand Sézane was shooting an ad campaign in Oaxaca when they encouraged an elderly Zapotec woman to dance for them.
EG
By Emily Green
January 14, 2022, 10:23am
A CREW MEMBER IN OAXACA FOR A FRENCH FASHION SHOOT CAJOLED GUILLERMINA GUTIÉRREZ TO DANCE FOR THE CAMERA, SPARKING OUTRAGE. (PHOTO VIA INSTAGRAM WITH PERMISSION @LIENZOS.EXTRAORDINARIOS)
MEXICO CITY — The foreigners laugh as the elderly Indigenous woman raises her arms and sways back and forth to a 1960s pop melody, while a professional photographer begins snapping photos. Now, video of the photo shoot for a French fashion label has sparked widespread indignation and a sharp rebuke from the Mexican government.
The blow-up involving Sézane, a clothing line founded in Paris in 2013, is the latest chapter in a longstanding debate around cultural appropriation and racism in the fashion industry. Top brands have been publicly shamed for being predatory at worst and culturally insensitive at best.
The controversy arose after a team from Sézane staged a photo shoot with an elderly Indigenous woman in the Zapotec community of Teotitlán del Valle, in the state of Oaxaca, on January 7. The woman, Guillermina Gutiérrez, is wearing a green sweater from Sézane and sitting against a staged backdrop.
A woman from the French crew stands up and starts dancing with Gutiérrez to the 1968 Mary Hopkin song Those Were The Days. The woman then steps aside and encourages Gutiérrez to keep moving, prompting smiles, peels of laughter and words of encouragement. But one onlooker was outraged: A Oaxacan resident who’d been hired by Sézane to help with its shoots, and recorded video of the scene.
More:
https://www.vice.com/en/article/4awnxw/mexico-sezane-racist-photo-shoot-zapotec-woman
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