The Verge: TheThe first embroidery stitch María Méndez Rodríguez learned at the age of 7 was the chain stitch. It’s the same one that, years later, she would teach to her seven children. At 42, Méndez has mastered advanced stitches like the closed buttonhole and rococo. She’s now diving back into the drawing process, trying to evolve from the traditional motifs of flowers and leaves she embroiders on blouses to better reflect the flora in her community.
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This article speaks to a lot of the injustices and cultural divisions within Mexico that I've studied in other courses. It's interesting to see how these conflicts extend to the world of fashion and art. I believe we have a similar law here in the U.S. to protect indigenous art- primarily that it's illegal to falsely advertise or sell anything under the false pretense that it was made by Native Americans. Only actual Native American work can be sold as such. But, it's unclear to me exactly what the penalty of that American law is; I just know that it exists. This new law in Mexico, on the other hand, seems to be much more confusing. For one, by taking away the ability for an individual artist to make a contract with a company who wants a license, it seems like they are impeding business with the artists rather than encouraging it. What's more, it only seems to have authority over copyright claims within Mexico. When it comes to these other forces like the Spanish "Zara" or Paris Fashion Week, there's still little they can do besides ask for it to be taken down.
It is incredibly sad, and yet very telling of Mexico’s perpetual state of barely making it through, that immediately after I read the title of the article I went: “it probably is”. Living in Mexico, I have had the opportunity to watch these garments in person, and they are gorgeous. Each one is made with a lot of care and is unique in its own sense. What’s baffling to me is that the consensus is not about banning international copies to use their designs or create something inspired by them, they just want the right amount of credit and compensation for it. What most struck my eyes here was the second to last paragraph, talking about how it is it is for a white woman to put on a blouse and take it off at the end of the day, while indigenous women are targeted for doing that very same thing. I see it all the time, it is “patriotic” if you do it if you are fair-skinned or wealthy, but the moment you are not you are “poor” and “wearing trash” among the things I have heard.
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