Cultural appropriation has been a rather unfortunate trend in fashion this year. There was the troubling Met Gala, China: Through the Looking Glass, recent fashion shows from Junya Watanabe and Thom Browne that towed the line between homage and caricature, and an Off-White item named "Jewish Hat." Belgian designer Dries Van Noten gave his thoughts on the issue during an interview with The Independent.
"You can’t just do whatever you want," he told the publication. "When it’s sacred, when it's religious, you have to be careful. It’s not just an object; it’s not just a thing. I want to pay respect to that; I think there are enough things in the world that you don't have to go that way. It’s important that it feels honest, but it is fashion – I have no problem mixing Japanese motifs and Chinese emblems in the same fabric, for instance."
Van Noten notes that while travel and different locales are part of his process when designing, he prefers "travel of the mind." The Antwerp Six member is famous for respectfully using fabrics from around the world and his imagination allows him to, as he mentions, mix materials from different countries.
Cultural appropriation has unfortunately always been a part of fashion's history, however, as Noten points out, it's a matter of paying respect to something versus playing on stereotypes.
You can read the full interview with Van Noten here.
