Artisans and merchants in the Mexican state of Oaxaca are calling out sportswear company Adidas for plagiarizing the traditional huarache sandal, alleging that a new design is strikingly similar to the Indigenous footwear.

For Viridiana Jarquín García, a huaraches vendor in Oaxaca's capital, the Adidas shoes were a “cheap copy” of the kind of work that Mexican artists take time and care to craft.

“The artistry is being lost. We're losing our tradition," she said in front of her small booth of leather shoes.

The controversy has fueled accusations of cultural appropriation by the footwear brand, with authorities saying this is not the first time traditional Mexican handicrafts have been copied. Citing these concerns, local authorities have asked Adidas to withdraw the shoe model.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Friday that Adidas was already in talks with authorities in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca to provide “compensation for the people who were plagiarized," and that her government was preparing legal reforms to prevent the copying of Mexican handicrafts.

The design at the center of the controversy is the “Oaxaca Slip-On," a sandal created by U.S. designer Willy Chavarría for Adidas Originals.

The sandals feature thin leather straps braided in a style that is unmistakably similar to the traditional Mexican huaraches. Instead of flat leather soles, the Adidas shoes tout a chunkier, sports shoe sole.

“To use the type of leather our artisans have here and to make the type of weaving they do, it takes days,” explained Susana García, a huarache vendor at a market downtown Oaxaca.

According to Mexican authorities, Adidas' design contains elements that are part of the cultural heritage of the Zapotec Indigenous communities in Oaxaca, particularly in the town of Villa Hidalgo de Yalálag.

Handicrafts are a crucial economic lifeline in Mexico, providing jobs for around half a million people across the country.

Authorities in Oaxaca have called for the “Oaxaca Slip-On” to be withdrawn and demanded a public apology from Adidas, with officials describing the design as “cultural appropriation" that may violate Mexican law.

Adidas responded in a letter Friday afternoon, saying that the company “deeply values the cultural wealth of Mexico’s Indigenous people and recognizes the relevance” of the criticisms.

It requested to sit down with local officials and to discuss how it can “repair the damage” to Indigenous populations.

AP Video shot by Jamilet Carranza López