Romania: Ethnic Hungarian embroiderers take on fashion brand

DW (English)

Nagyirasos embroidery comes from the Kalotaszeg region of western Romania. Local embroiderers skilled in this craft accuse fashion brand Mango of using a traditional design without crediting the source.

Transcript

00:01Erzsibet Kis Lukács is a member of the Hungarian minority in the Kolotoseg region of Western Romania.

00:07Well, since I was proud of my father, and I wanted to do it, and I learned everything I had to do with my husband.

00:23I feel like I had to keep this together.

00:27She has dedicated her life to a kind of embroidery known as Nocskirásos,

00:31and even gives courses in it to keep this very special skill alive.

00:37This explains why she was shocked to read in a newspaper article

00:41that fashion brand Mango's fall collection features clothing with embroidery designs

00:45that look suspiciously like traditional Nocskirásos designs.

00:49But there is no mention of the source in the product's descriptions.

00:56I was very sick.

00:59I was very sick.

01:02I was very sick.

01:05This is our本.

01:08This is our本.

01:09This is our本.

01:10This is our本.

01:12It doesn't make anyone look at us.

01:14We only stay with the Germans to us,

01:16if we have this, the heritage, our heritage, our land, our temple,

01:21and our temple anywhere, anywhere, wherever, it is the literature.

01:25So that is, don't let anyone that hurts.

01:31That was so much.

01:32Sarah Meeker hails from England, but has been living in the region for several years now.

01:37She loves the local traditions and has been conducting research into them.

01:42We started a campaign.

01:45So we made an open letter, we made it in three languages.

01:49The letter was written in Hungarian, Romanian and English.

01:52Its main demand was that these traditional embroidery designs should not be changed or

01:56used commercially without consulting the community from which they come.

02:00A number of social media channels shared the letter and supported the women.

02:05It was a terrible trouble trying to get our open letter, our complaint to Mango.

02:10I don't think that's unusual actually with these fast fashion companies.

02:14I think that they are sort of set up in a way to obfuscate you, to put you off track.

02:21Finally, we had success with a complaint channel and we got a letter through to Mango.

02:28And then it was very difficult to find out their response.

02:33When we finally found out their response, they had rejected our complaint.

02:40DW contacted Mango several times, asking for a statement on the women's allegations

02:45and why the company has not credited the source of the designs.

02:49So far, Mango has not responded.

02:55Kotelin Shinkokolo has published a book on these embroidery designs.

02:59She knows all about their history and meaning.

03:02Two things that are on public display in this church.

03:05So we are done.

03:07This church was done...

03:09This church has been done.

03:10It has been done this times, and the families have been done.

03:15It has been done and done it in my memory.

03:21The first front front of the court

03:27is that one, that is the first face of the world,

03:31which was one of the first women who was sacrificed in the world's cases.

03:34and a number here, in 1918.

03:39Each pattern has its own meaning.

03:41These wall hangings, for example, feature plants and seeds.

03:44They are believed to bring prosperity

03:46and are often embroidered on cushions and given as wedding gifts.

03:50Kotaline Sinkokolo loves to share this knowledge

03:53and does what she can to make sure it's not lost.

03:57She's not angry with mango, but…

03:59It's a popular art, specific.

04:02Atunci, should be mentioned the origin,

04:06if it should be the original motives,

04:10even from the original material and from the original colors.

04:14Atunci, there's nothing on me.

04:18How did the women feel about the situation now?

04:20This was the first time that the community stood up.

04:25We continue with our campaign against mango.

04:29It's, you know, we have to.

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