Rodarte Called Out for Aboriginal-Print Fall Line
Megan Davis, indigenous Australian lawyer, and an expert member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII),
told Frockwriter, "The thought of seeing women walking around in this particular ready-to-wear collection sickens me. ... I appreciate that we live in a postmodern culture, where people do take inspiration from particular areas and it is a complex area of law. But as an Aboriginal lawyer I found the designs offensive. What I find more offensive is that one doesn’t enter into a cultural protocol with a particular [indigenous] group, particularly when you keep in mind the abject poverty that a lot of these groups live in in mostly remote Australia." Rodarte released
the following statement: “We deeply respect and admire the work of other artists. Through the appropriate channels, we licensed the Aboriginal artwork that influenced prints in our collection. As a result, the artists will share in proceeds of the pieces inspired by their work.”