 A London celebrity designer, Matthew Williamson, gets his inspiration from several traditionally ethnic designs. Fair enough. No harm in nicking a bead hear and a print there. But is it ethical/legal/fair to copy a country's traditional dress and claim as if its your creation? Or is this going to be the next patent right fight Ethiopia is going to go through after Starbucks coffee?
These unmistakably Ethiopian dresses are part of Matthew's Spring 2008 collection. Judging by the pictures, the entire collection is "ethnic" inspired. However these are the two only Ethiopian dresses which appear in their original design.
Being inspired is one thing, but shamelessly copying something is outright theft. Sorry. On a more serious note, if this trend continues, would it have an impact on the livelihood of hundreds of Ethiopians whose livelihood depends on making the Abesha kemis?
Handicraft is therefore considered to be one of the most important and widely spread occupations of most Ethiopians next to Agriculture. As part of the handicrafts heritage, Ethiopia has diverse traditional handloom products. This sub sector provides large-scale employment and is an important source of livelihood for a large number of people in urban and rural areas. Based on the data collected in Year 2002 by the Central Statistical Authority (CSA) on cottages and handicrafts, it was revealed that there were a total of 211,842 handloom/weaving textiles enterprises in the country in various forms of ownership though benefits accrued from this sub sector was much below than expected. It will be nice if Matthew uses his fashion-weight to introduce the work of Ethiopian weavers and use their original product thereby boosting their meager income. Now that will be fair trade! (Thanks Selam)
Related links
Clothing in Africa
Ethiopian handloom products
History of Ethiopian clothing by Richard PankhurstLabels: Ethiopian clothes, fair trade, fashion theft, Matthew Willioamson |
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