UCLA School of Law

The global fashion industry is increasingly subject to accusations of cultural appropriation. We analyze why the fashion industry’s practices—in particular, its mashup-magpie mode of creativity and its rapid innovation cycle--make it a frequent target of these claims. We explain the challenges to legal protection for cultural designs; explore and critique the normative case for property claims in traditional cultural designs; and offer a qualified defense of the industry’s practice of re-interpreting those designs. Throughout, we suggest that many designs seen as originating in a particular culture have roots that extend outward to other cultures; this network of cultural interchange often undermines any particular ownership claim. And while appropriation can signal disrespect for source cultures and be objectionable for that reason, appropriation is not disrespectful per se. Indeed, there are strong normative arguments supporting many instances of appropriation.