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.

US fashion designer Willy Chavarria said Saturday he regrets that sandals he created together with Adidas "appropriated" a traditional design from the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca.

Mexican authorities are accusing sportswear company Adidas of plagiarizing artisans in southern Mexico, claiming that a new sandal design is strikingly similar to the traditional Indigenous footwear known as huaraches.