In a globalised world, the line between what is appropriate and offensive is blurred. Companies have to be prudent when it comes to adopting and adapting foreign cultures so that it does not come across as being insensitive.
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Illustration by Ebony Glenn, courtesy of the Bright Agency.

The advent of the Internet has brought about an abundance of information that was almost impossible to obtain if the world still retains its traditional methods of communication. This explosion of newfound knowledge has helped a vast majority to gain access to remote cultures in far-flung places. This is great because people can expand their horizons, making them more aware of different cultures and practices, and the expectation is a more informed global society. 
Cultural exchanges are not new, in fact, it is as old as the first trading between ancient civilisations. Goods were brought from one place to another which expanded commerce, bringing exotic fabrics to new markets and enabling new novelties to inspire designs. This very much allowed for the term ?cultural appropriation? to take root and only in recent times that people are paying attention to how their own cultures are misrepresented and misused. The definition of cultural appropriation, according to Dr Benedetta Morsiani, a research fellow at the University of Westminister, is ?the act through which specificities of a...