Marc Jacobs On Cultural Appropriation: “Maybe I’ve Been Insensitive”

Earlier this year, many people were very unhappy with Marc Jacobs’ spring 2017 collection. Jacobs’ stated that he wanted to pay homage to Wachowski’s Raggedy Ann hairdo with wigs styled as pastel dreadlocks. This was the beginning of the backlash and what many considered “cultural appropriation.” It certainly didn’t help that most of the models who wore them were white.

“What I learned from that whole thing, what caused me to pause after it died down a little bit, was that maybe I just don’t have the language for this, or maybe I’ve been insensitive because I operate so inside my little bubble of fashion,” Jacobs says.

Marc Jacobs’s fall “street wear” collection paid homage to the hip hop community. The designer wanted to make amends for anyone he hurt last season. The title of his Fall 2017 collection was called “Respect.”

The designs from the collection included tracksuits, a shearling-lined denim jacket, oversize bucket hats by Stephen Jones, and heavy gold neck chains made in collaboration with the artist Urs Fischer.

Do you think the tribute to the hip hop community is a start towards progression?