Authors: Trisha Dhar, Bhavya Anand, and Precious Ajie Esq

ABSTRACT

The communities of artisans and indigenous peoples in the developing world contribute to the global fashion industry, valued at USD 1.7 trillion a year, with their design language, weaving practices, and motif traditions, yet they obtain less than 5 percent of the retail value of their culture. This essay explores how these structural factors lead to the creation and perpetuation of economic inequalities within the exploitation of traditional cultural expressions (TCEs) and indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) within the global fashion industry, particularly through the example of Indian textiles. It addresses the following research question: How does the global supply chain contribute to unequal economic benefits derived from traditional cultural expressions (TCEs) and indigenous knowledge systems (IKS)? Through doctrinal analysis of existing laws, including the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999, the Copyright Act, 1957, the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, and international legal obligations of India in relation to the WIPO Intergovernmental Committee (IGC) negotiations and the Nagoya Protocol; through a value analysis of the supply chain, and engagement with existing academic literature to date, the essay outlines four mechanisms of economic marginalization: the limitations of the Geographical Indication (GI) approach, the intellectual property vacuum created by the idea/expression divide, the dominant structure of the supply chain, and the absence of benefit-sharing arrangements for TCEs. Another shortcoming identified in the existing literature on TCE exploitation is the notion that it should be considered under the category of legal classification rather than that of governance of supply chains. From the analysis of empirical evidence drawn from published studies and reports on the weaving clusters of Banaras, Chanderi, and Kutch, it is evident that the economic marginalisation of weaving communities is a policy-induced problem. The conclusion to this paper provides a comprehensive multi-perspective policy approach to TCE exploitation that comprises TCE-specific legislation, mandatory benefit sharing in supply chains, GI democratization, and constitutional approaches.

Keywords: Traditional Cultural Expressions, Fashion Law, Indigenous Knowledge Systems, Inequalities in Supply Chains, WIPO IGC, Cultural Misappropriation, Benefit Sharing, Indian Textiles, Weaving Communities.