Racial insensitivity through fashion brands

The chief executive and chief creative officer of luxury fashion powerhouse Burberry is the latest fashion brand to apologize for racial insensitivity
Burberry officials apologized for putting a hoodie with strings tied in the shape of a noose on their London Fashion Week runway.
The knotted strings surfaced after a show when a model hired to walk (but not wear the outfit) complained both before the show and on Instagram, saying the noose not only evoked lynchings, but also suicide.
Marco Gobbetti, the brand’s CEO, said in a statement Tuesday that Burberry is “deeply sorry for the distress” the top has caused and has removed it from the autumn-winter collection, along with all images featuring the look.
Riccardo Tisci, Burberry’s creative director, also apologized, saying “while the design was inspired by a nautical theme, I realize that it was insensitive.”
Model Liz Kennedy should be commended for taking to Instagram the day of the show, posting a photo of the hoodie with a long message directed at Burberry and Tisci.
“Suicide is not fashion,” she wrote. “It is not glamorous nor edgy and since this show is dedicated to the youth expressing their voice, here I go. Riccardo Tisci and everyone at Burberry it is beyond me how you could let a look resembling a noose hanging from a neck out on the runway.”
She added, “Let’s not forget about the horrifying history of lynching either.”
Her courageous post prompted dozens of negative social media comments directed at Burberry and Tisci.
“A massive brand like Burberry who is typically considered commercial and classy should not have overlooked such an obvious resemblance. I left my fitting extremely triggered after seeing this look. Feeling as though I was right back where I was when I was going through an experience with suicide in my family,” Kennedy wrote on Instagram.
The Burberry incident comes after Gucci removed a sweater from the market last week after complaints that the oversized collar designed to cover the face resembled blackface makeup. In December, Prada stopped selling baubles that also prompted complaints of racist imagery.
Gucci and Prada companies announced initiatives to foster cultural diversity and awareness among their employees to avoid future missteps.
That’s well and good, but how about stop making racist appeals to draw attention to sell fashion. They are not being edgy. They are being racist. Do they need to be faced with boycotts of their products for them to reconsider their racist conduct?
The companies should have known better and must be held accountable to do better in the future.
(Reprinted from the Philadelphia Tribune.)
 
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