Countering Counterfeits While Preserving Artisan Textiles’ Cultural Identity
Brands and retailers are polishing their supply chains as consumer demand for ethical and sustainable fashion continues to swell. And part of refining production processes is ameliorating the adverse effects of counterfeit materials and products, which have wholly impacted the industry itself and the people who support it.
The amount of total counterfeiting globally reached $1.2 trillion in 2017 and is projected to reach $1.82 trillion by 2020. Estimated losses due to counterfeiting of textiles, apparel, footwear, cosmetics, handbags, and watches amounted to $98 billion, which included counterfeiting from off-line and online channels, all according to the Global Brand Counterfeiting Report 2018.
And companies such as Voz, a luxury ethical fashion brand, is working to mitigate the effects of counterfeiting in the artisan community. Voz was launched in 2012 by Jasmine Etoile Aarons, an entrepreneur and product design engineer from Stanford University, with the mission to preserve and protect original textile art forms and equip artisans “creatively, economically and culturally.” Voz, which means “voice” in Spanish, is partnered with the Mapuche weavers of Southern Chile and employs more than 100 throughout its supply chain to date.
Here, Aarons discusses the importance of preserving cultural identity and the “true modern tragedy of counterfeit textiles.”
WWD: What experiences have you had firsthand with counterfeit textiles?
Jasmine Etoile Aarons: To understand fashion, one must first know cloth. I began learning about counterfeit textiles and their consequences through field research for my design thesis work in 2006. A passion for ceremonial design methods and uses led me to study global forms of art, design and adornment early in my education. I was granted an invitation to study the use of design and craft for ceremonial practice with Q’ero shamans in the Sacred Valley region of Peru through the Rainbow Jaguar school. More than one hundred Q’ero weavers, silversmiths and shamans generously opened their world to me through interviews and conversations — teaching me about their culture’s exquisite craft tradition, the character of each shape, symbol, color, the intended use of their designs, and the anthropological and spiritual significance of their craft.
The more open questions I asked, the deeper my understanding of this ancient cultural craft became. Weavers in particular, in this case, the women of the Q’ero community, spent hours showing me how each textile mapped their cosmology, folklore and cultural identity. Each color and shape composes a scripture older than the written word, and so it is for most cultures in the world. Textiles contain our stories, mythologies, cultural identities, as well as ourselves. Cloth was born of our human instinct to protect, adorn and revere the human body and natural forces that govern our universe. Through the continuation of weaving textiles, a culture’s knowledge, religion, and aesthetic are protected and expanded.
In this manner, textiles have been woven since the beginning of human history to tell stories, to be worn for ceremonies, decorate hearths and heal ailments. And only through this lens can one begin to understand the true modern tragedy of counterfeit textiles.
WWD: How do counterfeit textiles impact the artisan community, culture and industry?
J.E.A.: Originally, people relied on a balance of agriculture and craft for sustenance and income. This is still true in communities throughout the world. Today, the handcraft and textile industry makes up the second largest industry worldwide, second only to agriculture. Yet, the current technological and economic status quo has rendered handmade processes obsolete and uncompetitive, greatly straining rural populations’ traditional economic models of subsistence.
Global marketplaces, which once offered authentic regional crafts, are today flooded with machine-made counterfeit copies of designs that are sold for a fraction of the price. Artisans who employ handmade traditional techniques cannot compete with these prices, and tourists are not equipped to tell the difference between an authentic design and Asian-made import. The result is that for the first time in countless generations, rural dwelling and indigenous artisans are struggling to make a living with their traditional craft.
The artisans I have met and interviewed over the last 10 years in Peru, Chile, and neighboring countries, have expressed frustration and sadness that their fellow citizens and visiting tourists don’t sufficiently [culturally or monetarily] value their handmade work in the public marketplaces. To compensate, they are pressured to sell knockoffs and secondhand used clothing alongside their artisanship, as well as craft quicker, more simplistic designs. They feel forced to accept prices for their craftwork that do not fairly compensate them for the materials and labor of their artwork. As a result, weavers often are pressured to remove important traditional symbols from their art in order to make it fast enough to equal the price of a knockoff or use cheaper materials. Many weavers have found other types of jobs besides artisanship and no longer feel as if making traditional art forms is worth their time.
Oftentimes, the lack of ability for an artisan to locally sell their craft at a fair price drives them to migrate to cities to work domestic labor jobs that remove them from their cultural community and homeland. After years of learning about the consequences of counterfeit textiles, I founded
Voz to create rural work opportunities for artisans so they could continue their cultural art forms and symbolic practice and make a fair living from their talents and heritage.
WWD: How does Voz encourage economic growth and development for weavers while preserving their culture and aesthetic?
J.E.A.: Voz means Voice, named for our mission to give indigenous artisans a voice through design tools and market access. Since 2011, Voz has partnered with Mapuche weavers of Southern
Jasmine Etoile Aarons, founder of ethical fashion brand
Voz, discusses the cost of counterfeit textiles.