Paul Smith has caused a furore with his £300 Peshawari-inspired leather sandals. He's not the first to regain into hot water after looking for inspiration in the unsuitable placeThe Peshawari chappal is a leather sandal worn in parts of Pakistan. Paul Smith found it,trimmed the sole with neon pink and named it "Robert". The Robert costs £300; chappals cost £15 or less. No wonder Pakistan's Dawn newspaper this week reported on a petition against this restyling of a classic. Paul Smith now says the shoe is "inspired by the Peshawari chappal" – and no longer calls it Robert."Inspired by" is a great catch-all for fashion, a trope that suggests reappropriation is as natural as breathing. There is some truth in that. It would be a tough job to unpick the cultural heritage of your own daily wardrobe. The genealogy of even a pair of jeans is contested, or reaching back through those worn by manual workers in California courtesy of Levi Strauss & Co,to trousers worn by sailors in Genoa, and earlier depictions of workwear in Italian paintings; the fabric itself may have been made in Nimes.
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Source: theguardian.com