On Sunday, Philippine Fashion Week’s (PHFW) official Instagram account released campaign photos showing their support for the Black Lives Matter movement which resurgence can be credited to the police brutality that led to George Floyd’s death.
The initial post’s caption read, “Philippine Fashion Week supports #BlackLivesMatter, a movement in protest of police brutality, racial violence, racial injustice, and economic inequality against African-American people. #BLM” The photos showed a model donning clothes printed with Floyd and Eric Garner’s memorable last words: “I can’t breathe.”
And while the intentions of the campaign may be good, a lot of people have expressed their disappointment with it. Some pointed out that it was done in such bad taste, especially by recreating a person’s last words for a fashion piece. because it comes off as insensitive to George Floyd’s family. Let’s not leave out the video they just dropped teasing the collection, which used sound effects of someone gasping for air.
Twitter user Pilar Recto also pointed out how it’s problematic ” when people capitalize on the BLM movement so they can use the hashtag and ‘ride on the trend.'” In her follow-up tweet, she shared how she personally reached out to the PFW Instagram account in an attempt to educate them about it. After sending the message, Recto was blocked by PHFW.
Netizens also discussed online that they found it baffling that the PHFW chose to speak up about BLM yet stay silent about local socio-political issues.
PHFW has redirected us to to Herrera. As of writing, we have yet to receive her response.
Art by Dana Calvo
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