Matthew Williamson the Ethiopian "investigation"

An article published in the Independent on Sunday on December 9 2008 accused Matthew Williamson of angering the Ethiopian community by including two dresses which are inspired by Ethiopian national costumes in his spring/summer 08 collection shown at London Fashion Week in September.

The piece claims that charity Oxfam is now "investigating the matter." Press officer Rob McNeil from Oxfam's headquarters in Oxford told us on Monday December 10 that there is definitely no such investigation taking place in the UK. "We're a bit bemused about this, as I don't think we are particularly involved in this issue as it seems rather peripheral to our cause."

Rob confirms that the Indy journalist was put in contact with the Oxfam office in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa. We have asked His Excellency Berhanu Kebede Ambassador (full title Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary) at the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia in London whether he feels offended by Matthew's dresses but he has so far declined to comment. We are also seeking a response from a representative of Oxfam in Addis Ababa as well as confirmation that there is indeed an Oxfam 'investigation' taking place there.

A press officer at the Embassy in London told us that some (we do not know exactly how many) members of the Ethiopian community contacted attache Bruik Mekonnen both by telephone and email a week ago and complained about Matthew Williamson's dresses. The London embassy then alerted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Addis Ababa. The 35 year-old Manchester-born and Central Saint Martin's graduate Mr Williamson is hardly the first designer to be inspired by African traditional dress. Wayne and Gerardine Hemingway of Red or Dead created an entire collection inspired by Africans in London which was shown at London Fashion Week back in September 1999 and McQueen's last show in London was a celebration of tribal clothing which included African references.

Words: Marian Buckley

Update: 1.30pm Tuesday 11 December

Oxfam has confirmed that it is NOT investigating this and no one knows how this 'misunderstanding' came about but they haven't made any investigations into this and won't. Here's the statement from Oxfam in Addis Ababa:

An article in the UK newspaper The Independent on Sunday last weekend,
quoted Oxfam as 'investigating the matter' of a British fashion designer
(Matthew Williamson) copying Ethiopian traditional dresses.

This is however not the case. Oxfam will not be launching any such
'investigation', and if you have any queries please pass them to the
Director General of the Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office, Addis
Ababa. Oxfam in Ethiopia is not involved in this.

Many thanks,
Mark
--------------------------------------------------------
Mark Shephard
Media and Communications Officer

Oxfam GB, Ethiopia

Update: Tuesday 11 December 4.30pm

Getting hold of someone in the Intellectual Property Office in Addis Ababa is proving very difficult - the contact number I was given by the Ethiopian Embassy was answered by someone who said the man was away for a week and despite phoning several other numbers I haven't managed to talk to anyone from that Office. We have however been contacted by Hewete Haileselassie, the author of the original piece. I explained that Oxfam denies investigating this and she told me that she was led to believe by someone at Oxfam in the US that the charity was investigating. Don't quite understand why the US branch of Oxfam would be involved in something concerning a UK designer showing on a London catwalk - I'll have to ask Oxfam!

Update: Wednesday 12 December 1.45pm

Oxfam UK tell me that Oxfam US would have contacted the UK office or Addis office if they'd been approached by a journalist asking about this and they like me are confused that the US branch of Oxfam would look into a matter pertaining to a UK designer showing in London. They are checking with US now and should have a statement for us on this before too long.

Update: Wednesday 12 December 3.20pm

Progress! After having no joy earlier getting through to a mobile no In Addis Ababa, and no luck getting through to press officers at the Ethiopian Embassy in London, I have just spoken with Biruk at the Embassy who has confirmed he has a list of questions I have emailed for Mr Abdurazak Omer at the Intellectual Property Office. This Office is not at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Biruk informs me, it is totally separate. Biruk told me that Mr Abdurazak Omer does speak English and he is now forwarding my mail and will get back to me with a phone number for him.

Update: Friday 14 December 12.20pm

Biruk says that he couldn't get hold of Mr Abdurazak yesterday, he thinks he must have been out of the office. Says he is trying for me again. I will keep on asking!

Update: Friday 14 December 2.40pm. Two more calls to the Embassy and still no joy. Biruk says no one is answering the phone in the Office of Intellectual Property but he will get back to me with some response by the end of the day. Chin rub. If an atatche from the London Ethiopian Embassy can't get hold of the man who is allegedly investigating Matthew Williamson, things don't look great for the reliability of the investigation itself. If the Embassy is being straight with me, this man must be quite elusive. Would have been a lot quicker for me to get on a plane to Addis and try and track him down personally. If anyone knows the wherabouts of Mr Abdurazak from the Office of Intellectual Property in Addis Ababa please tell me!

Update: Friday 14 December 4.45pm. Oxfam UK have confirmed that there is no US Oxfam investigation into Matthew Williamson, I got an email from Rob McNeil, Oxfam Press Officer in Oxford which is pretty conclusive: "Oxfam US are not investigating this." The Embassy in London still has not been able to get in contact with Mr Omer at the Intelletual Property Office. This afternoon the press offfice there told me it could be as late as the middle of next week before we get a response to our questions! I did offer to put them in contact with the journalist who wrote the article claiming Oxfam was investigating this and did manage to speak with Mr Omer, but the lady I spoke to didn't want to take her details. I did explain that I was a bit concerened that the Ethiopian individual investigating Mr Williamson coukdn't be reached byhis colleagues in London for days - how is he going to gather evidence about Mr Williamson, surely he'll need help from London??? Also voiced my concerns that the Office of Intellectual Property which I am told is under-funded, should be dedicating time and resources to this investigation. There is a very serious matter arising with Starbucks and coffee in Ethiopia for one thing.

Update: Wednesday 19 December 1.40pm. No one has got back to me from Ethiopian Embassy despite assurances. Today is a national holiday so there is no one at the Embassy to answer the phone, I was informed via the mobile number of the press officer. So here are the questions I am awaiting answers for:

Questions for Mr Abdurazak Omer

1. Is it true as reported in an English newspaper on December 9 2007 that UK designer Matthew Williamson is under investigation by the Intellectual Property Office and that you, as quoted, are "very unhappy with him"?

2.Please explain why Mr Williamson is being investigated?

3. How was this brought to your attention and why has it taken this long (the clothes were shown in September 2007) for the 'investigation' to begin?

4. How many people from the Ethiopian community have complained (either to you or the London embassy) about Mr Williamson and what were those complaints?

5. What does being 'under investigation' actually entail and how long will this investigation take?

6. What are the possible outcomes of the investigation?

7. UK designers regularly show clothes which have been inspired by various countries and ethnicities. Mr Williamson's last collection also referenced Grecian shapes and Aztec prints. What makes Mr Williamson's referencing of traditional Ethiopian dress offensive?

I have been trying to speak to Mr Omer since December 10th and the Embassy has been trying to track him down since assisting since December 12th... quite a long time!

So I am now going to pen a letter to the IOS and let them know what we've uncovered so far.

Update: Thursday December 20 12.50pm

I have written to The Independent to protest at the innacurate reporting in this story. Here's what I have sent to the Editor.

Dear Editor

The IOS Business Section published an article on December 9 2007 by Hewete Haileselassie which when I read, I couldn't believe was true. It claimed that British designer Matthew Williamson is being investigated by Oxfam after including two dresses inspired by traditional Ethiopian dress in his spring/summer collection which was shown in London in September 2007.

The article also claimed that the dresses were 'replicas' and cited a Facebook group as evidence of the Ethiopian community's outrage. When I questioned Oxfam both at the headquarters in Oxford and on the ground in Addis Ababa, they confessed they were "bemused" by this accusation and told me quite clearly that they were not, would not and never were investigating this. The article asserts that a British designer referencing Ethiopian dress warrants investigation and is misleading in further asserting that the highly reputable charity Oxfam is taking such claims seriously. I also checked with Oxfam US, who confirmed that they were not involved in any such "investigation".

As an editor of an independent fashion website, I have attended London Fashion Week for over ten years and promise you that visual references to a whole range of cultures, ethnic groups and historical periods is a regular feature and has been for decades. In recent seasons, Zandra Rhodes was inspired by Russia and in particular its architecture, Avsh Alom Gur celebrated the Vatican, Bora Aksu explored Eastern European bridal dress, Basso & Brooke have explored African influences - the list goes on and on. Matthew Williamson included just two dresses (amongst dozens on the catwalk) which referenced Ethiopia - if that is intellectual property theft then an awful lot of designers are going to be headed for the dock. Also, this is signature Williamson - nomadic and ethnic influences are core to his design approach and have been for years.

Unfortunately, all my attempts to get hold of the man quoted in the article as currently investigating Mr Williamson, a Mr Abdurazak Omer of the Intellectual Property Office in Addis Ababa, have so far failed. The Ethiopian Embassy in London has been working with me since December 12, trying to establish contact with him and gain answers to my questions. Apparently, he hasn't been answering the phone. It is a tad worrying that the staff at the London Embassy haven't been able to get hold of the man in charge of this "investigation" for an entire week since it was reported. Hopefully, Mr Omer is spending his time on more important matters such as protecting Ethiopian Intellectual Property Rights in areas such as coffee where there are genuine issues relating to exploitation instead of squandering the Office's scarce resources on Mr Williamson's two frocks.

Finally, a Facebook group is also cited as evidence of this anger and outrage among the Ethiopian community. So we checked this out as well and our reporter was contacted by one of the most prolific contributers to the group - a lady called Hewete Haile. Could it be the same person who wrote this factually incorrect article in the first place? Either way, the IOS has published an inaccurate article which has since been reported by several websites. The potential damage this could do to Matthew Williamson's reputation and business is immense. Can you please ensure in future your journalists check their facts.

Yours sincerely
Marian Buckley
Editor - fuk.co.uk

Update: January 10 2008

I posted and emailed my letter and recieved an email: 'Hello Marian,
I've received your letter and forwarded it to the News Editor. Can you confirm that you have no commercial relationship with Matthew Williamson.' So I did that, but strangely, it seems my letter has not been published. On January 8th I emailed and left a telephone message for the new IOS Business Editor (the former one left just before Christmas)but I've not had a response. The Ethiopian Embassy in London has been really helpful but it seems they still haven't had contact with Mr Omer who is quoted in the article. This is what they emailed me on January 8th: "Marian,
We are not discussing the matter publicly until we have heard back from the parties concerned."

So it seems that since December 12 the Ethiopian Embassy in London has been trying to contact Mr Omer at the Intellectual Property Office in Addis Ababa. They still haven't, in their own words, "heard back from the parties concerned". It seems literally incredibe that this investigation is taking place. Think I'll have to write to the Editor At Large at The Indie and let her know.

Update: January 22 2008

I have written to Janet Street-Porter - no response as yet. The Embassy have'nt responded to my last email enquiring whether they have yet managed to contact Mr Omer. Meanwhile there has been some nasty racist anti-English rants on the Facebook group and several more websites have published the "quote" from the elusive Mr Abdurazak Omer. I hope the Ethiopian Embassy manage to find him. It is a bizarre state of affairs.

Update: January 31 2008

Still no word on the wherabouts of Mr Abdurazak but Janet Street-Porter has sent me a handwritten postcard telling me she is not the woman to sort this out as she only writes a column for the IOS so now I will send copies of my original letter to the Editor John Mullin and Michael Williams who is responsible for corrections.

Update March 17 2008

I got a phone call a few weeks ago from a lawyer working for the IOS who wanted to 'chat' about this and I have also recieved a letter from them. What's scary is that even though Oxfam are still totally adament that they were never and would never investigate this, the lawyer is claiming that "The explanation for their reporting to you that they were not investigating may be that they do not want, or are not able, because of their charitable status, to undertake investigations although they are supportive of the investigation of the Ethiopian Government." In another paragraph the lawyer claims "Whether Oxfam is supportive of the Ethiopian Government's investigation, or is investigating the matter itself, does not materially affect the accuracy or meaning of the article."

Yep. Truly. Shall I run that last bit by you again? The article stated that Oxfam was investigating the designer. The lawyer claims Oxfam might not be able to admit this because of its charitable status! Great imagination. The next claim is that basically even if the statment made in the IOS is untrue, it doesn't matter. You couldn't make it up! Anyways, a Oxfam UK press officer on March 14 has again reiterated to me that the statement pubished is false: "from my investigations into this I can tell you that Oxfam isn't investigating it regardless of charitable status, and hasn't, at any time, taken any stance - positive, negative or otherwise - about Matthew Willamson's designs."