Appropriation or Appreciation? Examining the Phenomenon of Cultural Appropriation in Fashion Branding

Abstract: Due to the social revolution, social issues such as racism, human justice and cultural appropriation have evolved rapidly and included in many aspects of life. Brands are taking advantage of cultural values and/ or artifacts to promote for their equities yet acknowledging the possible backfire that would damage their reputation. Most existing research regards the practice of cultural appropriation in branding as wrongful; however, researchers have not been thoroughly covering the phenomenon at a deeper level of cultural histories that may indirectly fuel to branding crises and suggesting proper resolutions to fix the problem. By adopting conceptualizations of critical theory, postcolonialism and related concepts, this study drew from the perspectives of Marcuse, Adorno & Horkheimer and investigated how cultural artifacts being used among fashion brands would result in branding crises. The results suggest that cultural appropriation does not only come from the misuse of cultural artifacts, it is also the lack of knowledge of history and origins of those artifacts, identification on who should represent those artifacts in advertising and shortage of education about this issue. Thus, the research contribute to the existing body of knowledge by explaining how cultural appropriate takes shape in branding and their contributions to branding crises.