Willy Chavarria Apologizes For Collab After It's Called Offensive
Designer Willy Chavarria Apologizes For adidas Collab After Mexico’s President Calls It Offensive
A sneaker release never comes with an apology following closely behind, but there’s a first time for everything.
Designer Willy Chavarria, the man behind his eponymous label, recently linked up with the three stripes to pay homage to Mexican culture and thus created the adidas Oaxaca Slip-On.
He meshed a vintage 1990s-era adidas hiking sole with a woven sandal-like upper, similar to those constructed by Zapotec artisans in Oaxaca, Mexico.
Last week, Chavarria, who’s half Mexican, told SneakerNews about how sneakers have gone from a utilitarian function to a form of expression, and he was proud to meld it with a small part of Mexican culture.
“Sneakers ARE fashion. Sneakers have such a greater purpose than they did back in the day,” he said. “This to me is such a hybrid between my work and adidas and it’s just like the perfect combination, it’s like literally one of the most classic Chicano references with the white sock and it actually wasn’t easy to do…it took trial after trial after trial and it’s just really well made.”
However, not everyone appreciated Chavarria’s design, including Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, who criticized the sneakers at a news conference last week, with an image of the collaboration labeled as “cultural appropriation” blown up behind her.
“Many times, large companies take products, ideas, and designs from Indigenous communities in our country,” she said, adding that the government would draft a new law that ensures “the creativity of an Indigenous people is not usurped.”
In response, Chavarria released an apology.
“The intention was always to honor the powerful cultural and artistic spirit of Oaxaca and its creative communities — a place whose beauty and resistance have inspired me. The name ‘Oaxaca’ is not just a word — it’s living culture, it’s people, and it’s history,” he said.
He added, “I am deeply sorry that the shoe was appropriated in this design and not developed in direct and meaningful partnership with the Oaxacan community. This falls short of the respect and collaborative approach that Oaxaca, the Zapotec community of Villa Hidalgo Yalalag and its people deserve.”
Adidas also hopped into the conversation with a statement saying the company “deeply values the cultural wealth of Mexico’s Indigenous people and recognizes the relevance” of their critique and wants to sit with local officials and engage in meaningful conversation about how it can “repair the damage” to Mexico’s Indigenous community.
