Another week, another insensitive design from a fashion brand. You would think Burberry would have taken notes from Gucci and any other label that has made mistakes in the past, but they didn’t. As part of their fall 2019 London Fashion Week show, they sent a model down the runway wearing a hoodie with a noose around her neck.
Model Liz Kennedy was the first to speak up about it even before it made its appearance during the show. When she it backstage she “had to speak to someone about it but the only thing I was told to do was write a letter. I had a brief conversation with someone but all that it entailed was ‘it’s fashion. Nobody cares about what’s going on in your personal life so just keep it to yourself.’ Well, I’m sorry but this is an issue bigger than myself.”
In a now-deleted post, chief creative officer of Burberry Ricardo Tisci explained the meaning of the collection. “I decided this show to the youth of today, to them having courage to scream for what they believe in, for them to find the beauty in expressing their voice.” I’m sorry, but what does a noose and suicide have to do with the voice of the youth? It seems pretty off the mark to me.
After receiving backlash, Burberry CEO Marco Gobbetti responded saying, “We are deeply sorry the distress caused by one of the products that featured in our A/W 2019 runway collection Tempest. I called Ms. Kennedy to apologize as soon as I became aware of this on Monday and we immediately removed the product and all images that featured it.”
I feel like it shouldn’t have to reach this point. First of all, the design should have never pushed through. But, when someone started calling it out backstage, that should have been a sign to scrap it then and there, but it didn’t. Instead, they resort to damage control but it might be too late for that.
Photo courtesy of Morg Parks’ Instagram account
For the latest in culture, fashion, beauty, and celebrities, subscribe to our weekly newsletter here
Follow Preen on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Viber
Related stories:
Alessandro Michele regrets the racist Gucci mask and here’s what he’s doing about it
Gucci’s new piece sparked racism comments
People are throwing their Dolce & Gabbana pieces in the trash
Is Dolce & Gabbana actually booting out Stefano?
