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Burberry Apologizes After Featuring a Noose On Their Runway


  • Published on
    February 20, 2019

You know what fashion brands love to do? Put racist items out in the world and then apologize when they receive backlash.

The latest brand to hop on the inappropriate train is British fashion house, Burberry.

On Sunday, the luxury company sent a model down their runway at London Fashion Week with a hoodie that had a noose around the neck.

No one thought that would be problematic?

As brands do, the fashion house was quick to apologize for their mistake.

“We are deeply sorry for the distress caused by one of the products that featured in our A/W 2019 runway collection Tempest,” Burberry CEO Marco Gobbetti apologized in a statement given to CNN.

“Though the design was inspired by the marine theme that ran throughout the collection, it was insensitive and we made a mistake,” the statement continued.

The garment was so heinous that even some of the models in the show felt like they needed to apologize.

View this post on Instagram

@burberry @riccardotisci17 Suicide is not fashion. 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. How could anyone overlook this and think it would be okay to do this especially in a line dedicated to young girls and youth. The impressionable youth. Not to mention the rising suicide rates world wide. Let’s not forget about the horrifying history of lynching either. There are hundreds of ways to tie a rope and they chose to tie it like a noose completely ignoring the fact that it was hanging around a neck. 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 (even though I did not wear it myself). Feeling as though I was right back where I was when I was going through an experience with suicide in my family. Also to add in they briefly hung one from the ceiling (trying to figure out the knot) and were laughing about it in the dressing room. I had asked to speak to someone about it but the only thing I was told to do was to 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. The issue is not about me being upset, there is a bigger picture here of what fashion turns a blind eye to or does to gain publicity. A look so ignorantly put together and a situation so poorly handled. I am ashamed to have been apart of the show. #burberry. I did not post this to disrespect the designer or the brand but to simply express an issue I feel very passionate about.

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“Suicide is not fashion,” model Liz Kennedy wrote on Instagram on Sunday. “It is not glamorous nor edgy and since this show is dedicated to the youth expressing their voice, here I go.”

She then spoke directly to the Chief Officer of Burberry, Riccardo Tisci.

“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. How could anyone overlook this and think it would be okay to do this especially in a line dedicated to young girls and youth. The impressionable youth. Not to mention the rising suicide rates worldwide.”

She also brought up how the outfit was reminiscent of lynchings.

“Let’s not forget about the horrifying history of lynching either,” she continued. “There are hundreds of ways to tie a rope and they chose to tie it like a noose completely ignoring the fact that it was hanging around a neck.”

Other Brands

Burberry isn’t the only brand to make this specific kind of faux pas.

Prada recently got in trouble for producing an animal charm with blackface. When called out on it, they tweeted an apology.

“Prada Group abhors racist imagery,” the brand tweeted. “The Pradamalia are fantasy charms composed of elements of the Prada oeuvre. They are imaginary creatures not intended to have any reference to the real world and certainly not blackface.”

The brand continued, claiming that there was no malice or ill will behind the item.

“Prada Group never had the intention of offending anyone and we abhor all forms of racism and racist imagery. In this interest we will withdraw the characters in question from display and circulation.”

Gucci also came under fire when they started selling a
 wool balaclava jumper that was basically blackface in a sweater.

Naturally, when people started to get angry, the brand took to Twitter to apologize.

“Gucci deeply apologizes for the offense caused by the wool balaclava jumper,” the fashion house tweeted. “We consider diversity to be a fundamental value to be fully upheld, respected, and at the forefront of every decision we make.”

The sweater was then taken off of the market and Gucci promised to increase diversity throughout their organization.

Read more: Gucci Apologizes for Blackface Sweaters

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