By Shawna Healey
Italian fashion house Gucci has pulled a black polo neck knit with a red lip cut out from its Autumn/Winter 2018 collection this week, after receiving backlash in the form of accusations of racism.
Balaclava knit top by Gucci. Happy Black History Month y’all. pic.twitter.com/HA7sz7xtOQ
— Cocolo Chanel (@evilrashida) February 6, 2019
Black History Month in the United States has been celebrated every February since 1970.
This comes just weeks after Prada recalled their racist key chains following backlash. Both Prada’s key chains and Gucci’s balaclava knit top have connotations to the racist cartoon drawing, ‘Black Sambo’, from the 1899 book The Story of the Little Black Sambo by Scottish children’s author Helen Bannerman.
On Wednesday, Gucci apologised for the jumper via Twitter, stating: “Gucci deeply apologises for the offence caused by the wool jumper. We can confirm that item has been immediately removed from our online and all physical store.”
Gucci deeply apologizes for the offense caused by the wool balaclava jumper.
We consider diversity to be a fundamental value to be fully upheld, respected, and at the forefront of every decision we make.
Full statement below. pic.twitter.com/P2iXL9uOhs— gucci (@gucci) February 7, 2019
Some people are sceptical of the brand, with one Twitter user, unemployedfatty, saying: “Gucci made this item slightly offensive (just racist enough to cause outrage, but not racist enough to be indefensible) on purpose, so that Gucci could get black twitter talking about their item. Then Gucci came with the textbook apology after they got the attention they wanted.”
The balaclava knit jumpers aren’t new, however. Instagram’s hottest fashion account, DietPrada, brought it to people’s attention that these masks and jumpers were sent down a runway in Milan in February of 2018. This went seemingly unnoticed.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BtlolIdlHTS/
Later, in April 2o18, Rihanna wore a Gucci balaclava to American music festival, Coachella.
Perhaps if Gucci had more people of colour involved their design, construction and admin processes then this wouldn’t have happened… unless they wanted it to.
Featured image: Seagoth “This album is dedicated to all of the people who can’t take a day off from themselves, to the people who have to face their greatest fears every single day – and to all the pain we feel, may we heal”. – Seagoth on How to Stay Wide Awake. While studying music…
Featured image: So La Flair Theatre Ellie Campbell and Megan Keaveney graduated last year from Manchester Theatre School. The pair met at a house party in their first year, where Ellie was standing on a table singing her heart out to Florence and the Machine. Megan locked eyes with her and knew they would be…
Featured image: PA As members of BTS embark on their military services, South Korean singer and songwriter Golden Maknae Jungkook is taking a venture into his new solo journey. Jungkook is celebrated for his outstanding stage presence and vocal ability to traverse different genres. With the discovery of his new upcoming album Golden, including 11…
Featured image and photography: Nathan Cutler aAh! Magazine highlights the up-and-coming talent of Manchester Fashion Institute (MFI) students this spring, introducing the young artists and designers who are sharing unique, creative and innovative work. Our MFI Fashion Spotlight focuses on three second-year Fashion Art Direction students who are taking part in the university-led project titled…
1 Comment
Thanks for the excellent article