243
Fashion Jobs
L'OREAL GROUP
Head of Advocacy & Influence - l’Oréal Dermatological Beauty - Copenhagen
Permanent · COPENHAGEN
ESTÉE LAUDER COMPANIES
District Manager (Funen/Jutland)
Permanent · AARHUS
ESTÉE LAUDER COMPANIES
Handelselev Med Speciale i Digital Handel - E-Commerce
Permanent · COPENHAGEN
ZIZZI
Online Buyer Til Fashion
Permanent · BILLUND
SAMSOE
Logistik Koordinator
Permanent · GLOSTRUP
ONLY
Business Controller
Permanent · BRANDE
ONLY
International Sales Manager
Permanent · BRANDE
JACK & JONES
Konstruktører, Jack & Jones og Jjxx
Permanent · BRANDE
BEST SELLER
Environmental Programme Coordinator
Permanent · KØBENHAVN K
BEST SELLER
Product Owner - Data-Driven Solutions & ai
Permanent · AARHUS
SELECTED FEMME/HOMME
Sales Representative
Permanent · BRANDE
L'OREAL GROUP
Key Account Relationship Specialist
Permanent · COPENHAGEN
SAMSOE
Business Controller (Sql And Data Analytics Specialist)
Permanent · COPENHAGEN
ACE & TATE
Optometrist Copenhagen i NY Østergade
Permanent · COPENHAGEN
VERO MODA
Business Controller
Permanent · AARHUS
VERO MODA
Buyer | Curve
Permanent · AARHUS
ONLY
Demand Planner
Permanent · BRANDE
L'OREAL GROUP
Supply Chain Graduate - l’Oréal Luxe Product Division - Copenhagen
Permanent · COPENHAGEN
KERING EYEWEAR
Kering Eyewear - Lindberg Junior Trade Marketing Manager
Permanent · AARHUS
ESPRIT
Area Manager Multilabel Nordic Women
Permanent · COPENHAGEN
ZIZZI
IT Operations Manager
Permanent · BILLUND
TJX EUROPE
Buying Coordinator
Permanent · COPENHAGEN
By
AFP-Relaxnews
Published
May 22, 2019
Reading time
2 minutes
Download
Download the article
Print
Text size

Nike ditches shoe design after Panama's indigenous Guna protest

By
AFP-Relaxnews
Published
May 22, 2019

US sportswear giant Nike said Tuesday it was withdrawing its latest shoe after Panama's indigenous Guna community accused it of "pirating" a protected traditional design.

Nike Air Force 1 'Puerto Rico' 2019 - Nike Inc


Lawyers for the Guna said the special-edition Air Force 1 model shoe sports a traditional "mola" design without their permission, flouting their intellectual property rights.

They had demanded the company pull out of a planned June 6 launch of the $100 shoe.

After being contacted by AFP, a Nike spokesperson said: "We apologize for the inaccurate representation of the design origin for the Nike Air Force 1 'Puerto Rico' 2019. As a result, this product will no longer be available."

Guna lawyer Aresio Valiente told AFP the indigenous people were not just seeking the product's withdrawal, but also damages as the shoe "is part of the spirituality of the Guna people."

"So the company has to compensate us because it was an illegal copy of our designs," Valiente said, adding that they had "already sent a note of protest" to Nike.

Industry website Sneaker News reported that Nike said the design was a tribute to Puerto Rico and featured a graphic representing the native Coqui frog.

However, Guna chief Belisario Lopez told a press conference in Panama City: "They must recognize that the mola that appears on the Nike shoes is from the Guna people."

Lopez said the Guna people's case against Nike was "not the only one in the world. Thousands of designs and the ancestral knowledge of indigenous people are being pirated by multinational companies."

The Guna people live in communities in Panama and Colombia. Most Guna live in Kuna Yala, also known as the San Blas islands, off the Caribbean coast of Panama. Environmentalists say the low-lying islands are being threatened by rising seas due to global warming.

"The mola is like a flag for the Guna. There is really a cultural identity that is articulated around the mola. It is a very strong element of identity," said Monica Martinez, professor of social anthropology at Barcelona University who has been studying the Guna for nearly two decades.

There are "more and more cases" worldwide in which indigenous people are reporting theft of their intellectual property by designers or large companies, Martinez said.

"The interesting thing here is that there are debates in the World Intellectual Property Organization and there are demands from indigenous peoples that something has to be done. But nothing is being done."
 

Copyright © 2024 AFP-Relaxnews. All rights reserved.