The Influence Of Cultural Appropriation

It 's anything but difficult to toss the term “Cultural appropriation” in fashion. Cultural appropriation is the appropriation of the components of one culture by individuals from another culture. In the United States, cultural appropriation quite often includes individuals from the overwhelming society (or the individuals who relate to it) appropriating the way of life, habitual clothes and apparels that of the ethnic minority (Nadra Kareem, 2017). Cultural appropriation has become a major problem among American fashion designers, models, trendsetters and celebrities pertaining to fashion. The fashion industry is famous for pushing its limits and making some genuine bungles en route (Ariel Beccia, 2017). Despite having the necessity to face

When these two words come together, it ends up as a controversial topic to debate about. Cultural appropriation occurs when an overwhelming gathering utilizes the workmanship, social or religious images, thoughts and articulations from the minority groups for their own particular advantage or advancement (Shree Paradkar, 2017). In the United States of America, usually the affected members of the originated culture due to cultural appropriation are African Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and indigenous peoples (Nadra Kareem, 2017). However, fashion models, celebrities, fashion designers, and trendsetters are also affected by cultural appropriation as they get criticized for being culturally insensitive whereas it’s a requirement for them to think out of the box with regards to fashion to earn their living. The problem arises even in the absence of malicious intent and fashion artists often get themselves targeted or blamed for illegal appropriation whereas they view themselves as someone who wants to get appreciated and acknowledged for their fashion sense. For instance, many famous American singers like Selena Gomez, Gwen Steffani and

One such example would be the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a United Nations agency which seeks to promote the protection of intellectual properties such as inventions, literary and artistic works, designs, and symbols throughout the world (WIPO). World Intellectual Property Organization has been requested to adopt "effective criminal and civil enforcement procedures" to thwart the public profiting from cultural appropriation (Carla Herreria, 2017). A specialised committee constituted with representatives of 189 countries has for some time been working on legislation that would protect indigenous designs, dances, words, medicines and etc., (Carla Herreria, 2017). Similarly, UNESCO has implemented a convention on the means of prohibiting and preventing illicit import, export and transfer of ownership of cultural property in order to preserve cultural heritage of indigenous cultures (UNESCO convent). UNESCO has also implemented Intergovernmental Committee (ICPRCP) to handle cases outside the scope of UNESCO convention; Intergovernmental Committee specializes in promoting the return of cultural property to its countries or its restitution in case of illicit