The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2025
Adidas sold a shoe copied from Oaxaca's huaraches — made in China, credited to nobody
Adidas's 'Oaxaca Slip-On' copied huaraches handcrafted by Zapotec artisans in Yalálag — made in China, with no credit, compensation or consultation.
Adidas · 2025-08
What happened
In August 2025 Adidas and Chicano designer Willy Chavarria released the 'Oaxaca Slip-On' as an Adidas Originals collaboration: a woven-leather sandal with an open heel and thick rubber sole, visibly modeled on the huarache sandals handcrafted by Zapotec artisans in Villa Hidalgo Yalálag, a community in Mexico's Sierra Norte de Oaxaca that produces only a few pairs by hand each day.
Mexican federal and Oaxaca state officials condemned the release as cultural appropriation: the shoe was manufactured in China, and its marketing never credited, compensated or consulted the originating community. Mexico's Deputy Secretary of Cultural Development said the case would proceed under the country's Heritage Law, through the National Copyright Institute, requiring formal dialogue with Yalálag.
Both Adidas and Chavarria issued public apologies days after the backlash. Chavarria wrote he was 'deeply sorry that the shoe was appropriated in this design and not developed in direct and meaningful partnership with the Oaxacan community.' Adidas said it would 'collaborate with Yalálag in a respectful dialogue that honors their cultural legacy' and had already contacted Oaxaca's government to begin talks required under Mexican law.
Why it happened
- A design modeled on one community's traditional craft was developed and manufactured without including that community, so nobody was positioned to catch the appropriation before launch.
- Sourcing production to China rather than the originating artisans turned a craft with a specific cultural home into a generic factory good, erasing the connection the design advertised.
- Marketing named the brand and the designer but left out the source community, making the missing credit a choice built into the campaign rather than an oversight caught late.
The lesson
A design drawn from one community's traditional craft needs that community in the room before launch, not in the apology after. Crediting only the designer turns a tribute into an extraction.
Aftermath
Mexico's government pursued formal engagement with Adidas under its cultural heritage law, adding the case to a growing list of Indigenous-design disputes — including earlier ones involving other global brands — that pushed Mexican authorities toward treating uncredited use of traditional designs as a legal, not just reputational, exposure.
Sources
- CNN — Adidas and designer Willy Chavarria apologize to Mexican Indigenous community for 'appropriated' shoe
- Mexico News Daily — Adidas and Willy Chavarria apologize for Oaxaca sandal design appropriation
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