I saw this article this morning about a French fashion company accused of 'culturally appropriating' a centures-old Chinese skirt. After reading the article, I still wasn't sure I understood what Dior's alleged crime was. If they had acknowledged it was inspired by an ancient Chinese design, would that have been okay? Or was it that they used it in the first place?
Seems to me that our modern history is full of examples of cultural appropriation, if that's the issue. Wasn't rock 'n roll inspired by American Deep South 'Blues' music? Wasn't the hit series, 'The Office' inspired by the British show of the same name? Isn't Disney+'s mega-hit TV show 'The Mandalorian' inspired by the 1960s Japanese TV show, Lone Wolf and Cub? I don't recall the Mandalorian's creator, Jon Favreau, mentioning Lone Wolf and Cub in any discussions of his show. Is that an example of cultural appropriation too? Maybe it's just me, but I see a Grand Canyon-wide difference between being inspired by another person's work of art versus stealing another artist's song or story, etc.
Show me anything that became super-popular and I'll show you dozens of similar products that came afterwards. Whatever happened to the notion that imitiation is the sincerest form of flattery?