Zara are facing backlash for cultural appropriation of a ‘lungi’ skirt
Fast fashion retailer Zara is facing a mixture of backlash and ridicule this week for cultural appropriation.
The brand has been accused of appropriating East Asian culture in one of their new designs.
The skirt that people have taken issue with is described by the website as a checked mini skirt, but online critics claim that it has been plucked from pattern and styling of a traditional lungi garment.
Hey @ZARA this is not a “check mini skirt”…. this is a LUNGI. Why don’t you call things for what it really is? Give credit to the culture you are appropriating. pic.twitter.com/Sarvggizen
— (@honeycumin) January 30, 2018
The lungi is a type of wrap around skirt most frequently worn by men in Indian, Arab and African cultures.
The garment seemed familiar to many people, who called out the brand for flogging their €89.00 skirt without crediting the lungi.
'My father and uncles wore them, as did many men who wanted something casual, cool, and relaxed to wear in the equatorial heat of Southeast Asia,' wrote Elizabeth Segran in Fast Company.
A £69.99 skirt from @ZARA that looks like a south Asian male skirt (lungi) that costs less than £1 pic.twitter.com/47aA2SSSg5
— Aria (@ms_aria101) January 28, 2018
'And an everyday sarong costs under $3. They’re the garment of the masses, a great equalizer, worn by both royalty and day labourers.'
While some are offended that the company brought out the skirt in the first place, others expressed that they wouldn't have minded if only Zara had given credit to the origins of the style.
Others ridiculed Zara, highlighting how the skirt is worn by 'older uncles' and is now being passed off as a fashion piece.
Zara has not yet responded to the criticism.
