Shining a Light to Uphold Integrity: When an IP attorney engages in plagiarism of a consultant’s work

It has come to my attention that my recent work on my specialization in #bioculture related to cultural garments, textiles, and natural dyes has been reproduced by Monica Boța Moisin, founder of the Cultural Intellectual Property Rights Initiative® (CIPRI), who claims to be a lawyer. Despite addressing this issue directly with her in November 2022 and again in February 2023, the unauthorized reproduction of my content continues.

As a passionate advocate for bioculture dedicated to ‘indigenous ways of knowing’, I have dedicated countless hours to research, analysis, and the creation of original content that I have proudly shared here on my website and LinkedIn. Discovering that someone else, particularly a platform like CIPRI, has not only copied my work without permission but also has not rectified the situation, is deeply disheartening.

My work with indigo farmers in Oaxaca, who provide the precious blue color used in Mexican traditional textiles, ignited my research that helped me find a very small branch of Mexican anthropology dedicated to BIOCULTURE, originally developed by Barney Nietschmann, one of the early leaders of geographical cultural ecology, since the 1960s. This helped me connect the dots in the realm of cultural garments, textiles, and cultural identity aspects linked to biodiversity.

Plagiarism devalues original creators’ efforts and compromises credibility, violating intellectual property rights and ethical standards. It undermines integrity and respect, particularly in specialized fields like bioculture.

While I firmly believe in the importance of sharing knowledge and ideas within our community, it must be done with honesty, transparency, and giving due credit to whom it is deserved. Authenticity and integrity should never be sacrificed for the sake of recognition or success.

Through this timeline, I aim to connect the dots by presenting key moments such as publications, talks, and significant research findings, which reveal Monica Bota Moisin’s silent plagiarism of my consulting and educational topics. This includes instances where she appropriated my work to launch her platform in 2018 and eventually co-opted BIOCULTURE in 2022, a concept founded through Barney Nietschmann’s research on indigenous groups in Nicaragua.

In 2014, I delivered a presentation on ‘Cultural Misappropriation in Fashion‘ at the Textile Society of America symposium, predating its recognition as a significant taboo within the industry.

Slides from my TSA 2014 presentation


In 2015, The Ethical Fashion Initiative prominently featured me in an interview within their ‘Hand of Fashion’ magazine’, emphasizing my dedication to addressing cultural appropriation in the fashion industry.

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In 2015, within a private group chat on Facebook, Susana Harp Iturribarría disclosed that Neiman Marcus was marketing a replica of the Tlahuitoltepec blouse from the Mexican community of Santa Maria Tlahuitoltepec, Oaxaca. That same week, my visit to the (now defunct) Barneys NY in LA unveiled that the Isabel Marant ÉTOILE collection had reproduced these designs, sparking discussion on cultural appropriation. Additionally, they replicated the thick wool sweaters from Gualupita, Estado de Mexico, that Marilyn Monroe made famous in the 1950’s. My subsequent post on the Ethical Fashion Tribe Facebook page and LinkedIn garnered over 30,000 views, amplifying awareness of the issue. Eventually, the matter gained international attention, extending the reach of the conversation.

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Talks and posts on fashion misappropriation

Some examples of my original website since 2013:

CIPRI’s website: Notice the obvious imitation?

My research, website, and efforts to promote Biocultural Heritage started in 2020, including talks held in Mexico City and India.

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Sangamam Bioculture presentation, Chennai, India

This is how she covertly introduced the definition: Bio(cultural) in 2022.

– November 9th, 2022

I send her a special request on February 2023 at no avail:

This is her full blown campaign 2023 -24

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I started working in sustainable fashion back in 1999, at a time when it wasn’t mainstream. It was considered unconventional, often dismissed as ‘crunchy granola’. Since then, I’ve dedicated years to immersing myself in the intricate world of global craftsmanship, from Italy to China, India, Peru, Mexico, and beyond. In the trenches of entrepreneurship, I risked my own capital to bring endangered crafts and cultural heritage to life. Continuing my commitment, I taught the first courses on the subject in New York from 2010 to 2014. My dedication to sustainability remains unwavering to this day. Transitioning from academia, I ventured into consulting in 2013, driven by an unwavering passion for innovation. This is why I KNOW that Biocultural Heritage and its derivations were not in the landscape of fashion, certainly before Monica started applying the term. It is disheartening to witness Monica’s blatant appropriation of my work, devoid of any collaborative spirit. I must note that she requested a LinkedIn connection back in 2015, always submitting comments on my posts. Nonetheless, by writing this post, I find relief and have already decided not to concern myself with others’ opinions. This is my experience.

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Bioculture is not fashion, yet Monica is currently promoting it as such. Bioculture transcends mere fashion; it embodies the profound intersection of biodiversity and cultural heritage, surpassing the superficiality of trends.

► To Monica Bota Moisin, representing CIPRI: My previous attempts to address this matter with you, both in November 2022 and February 2023, were aimed at protecting my research and intellectual property, not engaging in defamation. Despite this, it seems you have continued down this path. Additionally, the striking similarities between topics that are part of my consulting expertise on my site and those addressed on your website, such as ‘Cultural Sensibility,’ are concerning. I implore you once again to reconsider your actions and take the necessary steps to rectify this situation. Respecting intellectual property rights is not only a legal obligation but also a fundamental aspect of professional ethics.

Moving forward, I urge all professionals, including those affiliated with platforms like CIPRI, to maintain the highest levels of ethical conduct and respect the intellectual property of others. Let’s foster an environment where originality is celebrated, and collaboration is based on mutual respect and recognition.

Thank you to everyone who supports and values originality and integrity in our professional community. Let’s continue to champion these principles together.

#Originality
#Ethics hashtag
#IntellectualProperty
#Bioculture

https://www.linkedin.com/company/cultural-intellectual-property-rights-initiative-cipri/

https://www.cbd.int/cepa/cepafair/2022/ppt/cepa-fair-2022-10dec-gbcf5-presentation-12-monica.pdf

https://www.culturalintellectualproperty.com/post/cultural-sustainability-and-biocultural-diversity

SHOES: THE ABSENCE OF A PRESENCE

While working as a shoe museum curator in Mexico City in the early 90s, I was responsible for exhibiting a worldwide footwear collection spanning over 500 years of history, which was made possible by the Bally Shoe Museum, which separated the pairs from its museum collection and shared them with the only shoe museum in Latin America.

While working at the museum, I noticed the “absence of a presence” in the shoes on display. Each shoe had a unique story to tell about its owner, but it was rare for shoes to be preserved in good condition because they were meant to be worn. The origin of footwear was for protection, using materials readily available in the surroundings. Over time, they evolved into status symbols.

This experience inspired me to become a self-taught fashion anthropologist. I aimed to comprehend the principles of gender, culture, society, morality, economics, trade, materials, and manufacturing techniques. Additionally, I had to determine the taste level of individuals in their respective eras.

While I was a member of the ICOM International Council of Museums, I received support from institutions, museums, and experts in the field. I was also honored to be invited by Sonja Bata to spend a week at the prestigious Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto with other shoe museum curators from around the world.

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As circular fashion consultant, I have included this vast knowledge to help footwear brands on their sustainability mission. I also love lecturing on the topic.

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In this episode of Articulate “Walk a Mile With Me”- I share some footwear stories.

Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto, Canada, with founder Sonja Bata, director Edward Maeder, and curators from shoe museums from around the world (Ferragamo, Bally, Romans, etc.) enjoying a week-long immersive gathering to explore their collection and attend workshops.

My old Shoe Museum business card

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Some examples of Tzotzil huaraches (cactle) from Chiapas, Mexico and from Guatemala

Art installation “Red Shoe Project — Zapatos Rojos” by Elina Chauvet draws attention to violence against women. Morelia, Mexico (2021)
“Each pair of shoes is the reflection of each woman who did not return home because she was murdered”

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Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers were a magical pair of shoes and five pairs are known to have survived.

Protected: MEXICAN INDIGO IS BIOCULTURE

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“Dress for the century, not the moment.”

“Dress for the century, not the moment.”
— Valentina’s advice to Greta Garbo

In our era of internet-enabled instant gratification, the cycles of fashion are turning ever faster, and the garment industry is churning out ever more clothes — producing more than 160 times the weight of the Empire State Building in clothing every year, most of which goes to landfills after just a few wearings. Complicated fixes abound, and yet ultimately, what drives all of this mass production is that consumers are buying it. It’s the wearers of clothing, all of us, who have the power to take matters into our own hands, to look to tradition rather than technology and rethink our habits to slow this madness and close the circle.

While we think of textiles as ephemeral, clothing that is well-crafted and lovingly cared for can last for decades, and sometimes longer. As recently as the 1800s, dress styles evolved only every 10 years; as trends changed, women would simply alter their existing gowns accordingly, mending them over the decades as they aged. Yet today, the average garment is worn five times before it’s discarded.

At the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute, head conservator Sarah Scaturro is charged with the preservation of garments ranging from 15th-century menswear to Iris van Herpen’s delicate, futuristic 3D-printed dresses. Her advice on wearing garments as long as possible? It’s not a contest between synthetics and natural fibers, but a matter of how they’re cared for. While synthetics have a reputation for being long-lived, some are in fact chemically volatile and emit toxic gases as they break down, while others shed dangerous microfibers into our water system.

For all types of garments, Scaturro offers this common-sense advice: Avoid extreme conditions (sunlight, heat, damp) and pests; mend as needed, reinforcing stress points; wash less frequently, using just a little soap; and don’t tumble dry.

As for mending, there are both modern and time-honored ways to address the holes, tears, or discolorations that can crop up over time. Reweaving, embroidery, and appliqué can be employed either to conceal holes or transform them into decorative elements, as with punk-rock patches or Japanese sashiko stitching. As for stains and fading, in the markets of Morocco, dyers still refresh old garments with new color — a practice recently revived by the Berlin-based, Japan-dyed vintage line Blackyoto, and which can also be done at home.

Parsons School of Design professor Timo Rissanen likes to have a bit of fun with visible mending, both in his creative work and his own wardrobe, and argues for reviving the homemade aesthetic. Having darned his oldest garment, a 25-year-old Norwegian sweater, until it’s acquired an entirely new aesthetic, he finds that lack of preciousness liberating. For those intimidated by the skill required for mending, he suggests a similarly open-minded approach: first learning to stitch buttons and hems, then most crucially, learning to love the results: “The homemade ought to be celebrated. The home-mended ought to be celebrated.”

Once a garment is beyond repair, many forms of recycling beckon. Quilting and piecework — originally ways to layer scrap fabrics into a new textile so strong that it was used for armor in both Japan and Europe — are seeing a revival. Clothing brands including Eileen Fisher, APC, and Nudie Jeans now take back, mend, or resell their lines’ used garments. And yet, as Rissanen points out, what to do with worn-out garments is rarely the issue. “For the most part, garments wearing out is not a problem. It’s much more of a problem that we are not wearing clothes to the point where they actually wear out.”

How, then, as participants in fashion, can we all work more responsibly to avoid filling our planet with our cast-offs? The answer isn’t easy, but it’s surprisingly joyful: To purchase only clothes we truly love and that will have a special place in our wardrobes; and if it’s for a one-time wearing, to rent or buy used. To wear unblended natural fibers, which are healthier for us and our planet. To have a bit of fun with our clothes, embracing making rather than shopping as a social activity.

We don’t have to look far into the past to remember these practices: In Carmen’s Mexican grandmother’s day, women would gather to jointly embroider a large, complex piece as they chatted and socialized. Titania’s mother grew up in the British colonies wearing clothes her own mother handmade for her. And as many people embrace making as a counterpoint to the disembodied computer work that prevails in their day jobs, textile classes have multiplied across the US, from Textile Arts Center in New York to Makers Mess in Los Angeles.

Dressing for the century no longer has to mean, as it did in Garbo’s day, conforming by sticking to the classics. As Sarah Scaturro declares, “It’s possible to assume any style and have it be relevant for both the moment and the century. We are now in the post-post-modern era, which means anything goes, quite literally.”

Timo Rissanen contends that, contrary to today’s assumption that dressing fashionably requires rampant consumerism, “to participate in fashion does not require a great deal, or even any, money” — rather, it demands only “an unbridled imagination and confidence in your ideas.”

It’s time to let our imaginations run free, and dream up a wardrobe, and a world, unencumbered by garment waste.
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This article was published by Regeneration magazine September 2018.

Credits:

Article by Titania Inglis and Carmen Artigas

Photos by Shay Platz for Titania Inglis

Infographic by Titania Inglis (based on statistics from Make Fashion Circular, tiny.cc/fibres)

A FORCE OF NATURE

I recently coordinated the first visit to Mexico of Aboubakar Fofana, indigo master from Mali, to create his textile installation “Wild Is The Wind” on a beautiful agave field in Oaxaca.

For the record, Indigo masters are few and rare, they are living jewels that honor their practice by blessing their vats and invoking the gods of wind and water. After witnessing Aboubakar’s process, my admiration and respect for his work increased! He is a true alchemist, mystic and artist. He posses a compass for elegance and beauty and the traits of patience, tenacity, and precision.

He is a world traveler and his exquisite textiles represent 5000 years of ancestral wisdom. I was honored to assist him during his first exhibition in Mexico and feel blessed to call him a friend.

Portrait by #Rudj, Installation photos by Elena Pacenti

#naturaldyes #pureindigo #blessedtextiles #culturalexchange#masterartisan
#malibamako #oaxacamexico #textiles #icon

My first collaboration with The Colours of Nature TCoN

I first met Jesus Ciriza and his business partner Loes Overbeek in October 1999. They had already perfected commercial natural dyeing but they were just starting to develop their first product, a classic buttoned-down men’s shirt. Their entire process was certified by SCAL, a Dutch certification that was eventually bought by Control Union, their certification included everything from dyes, spinning, handloom weaving, and their organic cotton was beyond Fair Trade standards. Alas, they were struggling to survive due to the isolation of Auroville, India, poor market conditions and especially because back then natural dyes and organic cotton wasn’t a thing… So they invited me to collaborate with them and I decided to design a collection dedicated to reflecting a zen lifestyle.

We presented the collection at Biofach in Germany in 2001, which was the first trade show dedicated to organic products, but the market wasn’t ready yet… It was an uphill battle, enough to make anyone go bankrupt!

I kept all my samples, swatches, natural dyeing ingredients, and once I started teaching Ethical Fashion at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NY (2010), it became my mission to inspire students to work with natural dyes and endangered cultures… Indigo was in my soul and it became a powerful incentive to inspire my students.

Eventually, Jesus and Loes parted ways but thanks to Jesus tenacity and the internet, TCoN now collaborates with brands such as Levis, Industry of All Nations, Lacoste, Benetton, Story from Japan, etc.

Here are some fond images that bring back those memories 🙂
PS, no the digital cameras back then…

If you are hoping to develop handmade products with artisans and their ancestral techniques, contact me to inquire about my consultancy packages. I also teach ethical fashion courses and give lectures.

carmenartigas.com

TCoN founders, Jesus Ciriza and Loes Overbeek, Auroville, India, 1999

Me, while reviewing developments

Indigo + Japanese techniques: Shibori, Sashiko and natural bamboo closures.

The dyeing unit

All natural, almost like Robinson Crusoe

Tailoring unit upstairs

Loes and the sample maker

Pure organic cotton drying

Certified handloom

Indigo ferra plant and indigo yarn

Indigo is a live fermentation process

Dying and the oxidation process

Indigo paste

Dyeing process

Quality control

Shibori samples for the bedding collection

Handloomed plain kimono robe

Handloomed waffle kimono robe

Development of our knitted samples in a Tirupur factory

Organic cotton yoga collection

Development of the slippers and sandals

Indigo sandals

Organic cotton Spa slippers

With a Kutchi Rabari tribe in the Bhuj desert, doing research on endangered crafts.

Fashion Anthropology

I discovered #fashionanthropology in 1994, while working as a shoe museum curator in Mexico City.

I was responsible for overseeing, curating exhibitions and preserving a global collection of more than 5,000 historical shoes, shoe accessories and historical documents. I also developed an extensive understanding of historical shoe design and construction techniques in every ethnicity an time period.

Fashion anthropology shares the context of an era and shoes tell us almost everything about a person. Throughout history we could see in them examples of social and economic status, moral values, and even poor taste…

I believe fashion schools could benefit students more through #fashionanthropology (multidimensional), rather than #fashionhistory (linear).

 

Items: Is Fashion Modern? An Abecedarium.

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) created a two day event, to begin the countdown for the exhibition Items, which will open at MoMA at the end of 2017.

I was honored to participate as a speaker, sharing the podium with NY designer Mary Ping from Slowandsteady Winstherace, as part of the ‪#‎ItemsMoMa‬‪ #‎Abecederium‬ ‬ answering Is Fashion Modern? and address the letter R = Rana Plaza. Curated by Paola Antonelli, Alexandra Midal and Michelle Fisher.

“MoMA first tackled this area of applied creativity seven decades ago. The salon on Sunday night will reprise the question that entitled Bernard Rudofsky’s 1944 MoMA exhibition Are Clothes Modern? This first MoMA exhibition on the subject will be the paragon for a contemporary appreciation of the universe of fashion and garments, both in the May event and in the exhibition. Recalibrating the question for our present moment–Is fashion modern?–we will consider the way in which items are designed, manufactured and distributed, and we will ponder the multivalent relationships between clothing and functionality, cultural etiquettes, aesthetics, politics, labor, economy, and technology as they are experienced in the immediate present.”

You can find the video on MoMA’s YouTube channel (each speaker is timestamped for ease of access):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyuUh7ZEp8s

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Here is my view on the subject:

The Rana Plaza disaster is a wound that hasn’t healed, but this tragedy was not in vain…

It immediately sparked controversy and turned the spotlight onto cheap fast-fashion brands, where price trumps quality. And the general public was able to witness “who” is really paying the price. It certainly provoked a call to action around the issues that were being discussed in the Ethical Fashion circles for years.

The apparel industry is archaic, complex, inefficient, polluting and is currently undergoing major changes.

The manufacturing model in Bangladesh is low tech, labor intensive, highly un-regulated, suffering from labor exploitation and environmental issues.

In my opinion, educating a new generation of fashion designers has to become a dialog. It is necessary to openly share the facts and address the blind spots in order to tackle the challenges ahead. It is also an invitation for the students to develop solutions around the issues of resource scarcity, responsible sourcing, lean manufacturing, transparency in the supply chain and much more.

We are also experiencing moments of consciousness. The Linear Economy Model of “take, make, waste” failed.  Today, we need to step into the Circular Economy business model, where we eliminate waste at the conception phase and apply Design for Disassembly and repurpose those materials.

Our language also needs to evolve. I believe “responsibility and accountability”, will redefine the future for a resilient fashion industry. Another objective should include a shift from a hyper-consumption experience towards mindful consumption, and it simply means that we are aware our decisions have an impact.

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Below are some thought provoking images from Paola Antonelli’s introduction to the topic.

Q&A discussion moderated by Paola Antonelli

The infographics for our presentation R = Rana Plaza, were created by WinnieWan from Studio Lin.

Finally relaxed, with my friends Marco Antonio Castro, Evyenia Gennadiou and Tina Schenk 🙂

Is ethical fashion a political issue?

When I posted on my FB page Ethical Fashion NY, about the Bernie Sanders speech that was interrupted by a bird, I received a relevant comment:

I felt it was necessary to respond and explain to community the reason I posted the Bernie Sanders video…

“I’m sorry to disappoint some of the audience… but Ethical Fashion IS a political issue and that is the reason I dedicated 15+ years to start the conversation and generate this movement. The US trade policies eroded the once thriving textile and apparel manufacturing industries in America, generating massive unemployment and loss of skills. Thus allowing a shift to manufacture to the cheapest destinations, which have little regard for working conditions and the environment. This platform IS a moral movement and I stand for what I feel is right. To raise awareness and develop a moral compass. We have less that a decade to clean up our act. It’s not about fashion, it’s our human duty to do the right thing. The act of a bird flying into a political podium gives me hope.”  ‪#‎thebird‬

I don’t HOPE for change… I BELIEVE in creating change!

ECO-FASHION PREDICTIONS FOR 2016

It’s an honor and a pleasure to be part of this amazing lineup of colleagues and friends at Ecouterre’s annual fashion predictions.

My predictions:

We’ll start addressing toxicity in the textile and apparel sector through green- chemistry initiatives that seek to regulate or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances and processes.

Eventually consumers will learn to identify and avoid certain fabrics and chemicals when selecting clothing.

Cultural appropriation will continue be a hot topic and the public will be less tolerant toward designers that copy other cultures.

On the other hand, we’ll see an increase in traditional textile production methods and ancient designs will be revived and reintroduced to village artisans by contemporary entrepreneurs.

Emotional brands will increase their presence and distinguish themselves by their karmic business principles and sensitizing the audience to their sourcing and manufacturing processes.

http://www.ecouterre.com/eco-fashion-predictions-for-2016/2016-carmen-artigas/?extend=1

PS, This small book rests by my bedside… Gerald Heard, a great philosopher… he had some of the most eye-opening views on sensory evolution.

“Humans can -and must – accelerate their own evolutionary development by advancing in consciousness if they are to survive.” – Gerald Heard, The Ascent of Humanity.