Romanian Culture Minister Raluca Turcan says she will ask French luxury fashion house Louis Vuitton to acknowledge that a traditional Romanian blouse directly inspired items in one of its 2024 collections. Turcan said late on June 3 that she would contact the fashion house after a campaign by La Blouse Roumaine, an online community that claimed that it was “cultural appropriation,” pointing to the similarities between the Louis Vuitton blouse and the Romanian “ia” blouse and saying Louis Vuitton should “give credit” to Romanian heritage. The "ia" is recognized as a symbol of the country’s folk culture and was added in 2022 to UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage.
Editors' Picks
RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.
If you are in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine and hold a Russian passport or are a stateless person residing permanently in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine, please note that you could face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us.
To find out more, click here.