What in the world is going on in the fashion industry? There has been a flurry of racially insensitive pieces or situations surrounding major designers such as H&M (remember the black boy wearing a hoodie that displayed "coolest monkey in the jungle" last year?).
And most recently Prada had to pull a line of accessories that featured a character with brown skin and big red lips. Then Gucci hits us with a black turtleneck sweater with red lips that resembled blackface. And wait, that's not it Burberry recently featured a hoodie with a closure that looked just like a noose! What is really going on?
At first I thought, "Okay, this is just fashion, creativity is in the eye of the beholder." But then I had to really think about the fact that not only do the fashions and accessories resemble what I think they resemble, but the bigger problem is that designers continue to be racially insensitive then issue these blanket apologies.
My question is are there no black people or sensible people in general that can see this as a problem long before these articles of fashion hit production? What is really going on here? This is truly a dilemma for me because I am still trying to figure out how this blatant problem can still exist in 2019? Will I give up handbags and accessories by these particular designers now as a result? Realistically, no. But will my eyes be more open to all of the subliminal (and not so subliminal) racism that is still very much alive today? Yes.