Fashion company Burberry is apologizing after it featured a hoodie with a noose around the neck during the Sunday show for the brand’s autumn/winter 2019 collection at London Fashion Week.
“We are deeply sorry for the distress caused by one of the products that featured in our A/W 2019 runway collection Tempest,” Burberry chief executive officer Marco Gobbetti said in a statement provided to CNN and Highsnobiety. “Though the design was inspired by the marine theme that ran throughout the collection, it was insensitive and we made a mistake,” he said in the statement.
The model who wore the hoodie, #LizKennedy took to Instagram to shame the fashion brand for their tone-deaf actions, saying she was “ashamed to have been a part of the show.” She continued, “Suicide is not fashion,” she wrote in the Instagram post. “It is not glamorous nor edgy and since this show is dedicated to the youth expressing their voice, here I go.” Kennedy then went after chief creative officer of the brand 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,” she wrote. “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.”
Kennedy went on to express how the hoodie plays on the historical racial violence against Black people. “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,” she continued. “A massive brand like Burberry who is typically considered commercial and classy should not have overlooked such an obvious resemblance.” Kennedy said she left her “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.”
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@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. 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.
“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,” she said. “I did not post this to disrespect the designer or the brand but to simply express an issue I feel very passionate about.” Burberry has yet to respond to media’s request for comment. Burberry has now been added to the boycott list following behind #Prada and #Gucci after they posted racially insensitive pieces.
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