The Thread Of Heritage: Fashion, Geographical Indications, And The Fight For Cultural Justice
- IJLLR Journal
- May 24
- 1 min read
Prachi Garg, National Law University, Delhi
Deepak Patel, National Law University, Delhi
Introduction
Globally, the fashion industry is all about reinvention. Each season brings with it new styles, prints and looks that are often unique and exclusive. However, behind the seemingly endless stream of new looks, lies an uncomfortable truth: many popular fashion trends are appropriations of old traditional heritage craftsmanship by the indigenous and local communities. These communities rarely get any credit or commercial benefit out of the exploitation of their heritage done by economically superior entities. This conflict has made the connection between fashion and Geographical indications one of the most significant legal issues of contemporary intellectual property law. This issue is now linked to cultural ownership, truthful attribution of appropriated heritage, ethical fashion, sustainability and economic justice.
A Geographical Indication is a sign used on products whose qualities, reputation, or characteristics are essentially linked to a particular geographical origin. In India, products such as Banarasi Saree, Kanchipuram Silk, Pashmina, and Kolhapuri Chappal are protected because their identity is inseparable from the communities, techniques, and regions that produce them. Unlike trademarks, which belong to corporations or individuals, GIs are collective rights tied to heritage and tradition. As scholars have observed, traditional cultural expressions are often treated by conventional intellectual property systems as part of the “common heritage of mankind,” freely available for public use. Yet for many communities, such expressions continue to function as living forms of identity, memory, and collective heritage. They recognize that cultural knowledge itself possesses economic and social value. However, in the fashion industry this value has often been exploited rather than protected.
