
Burberry Apologizes After Noose Hoodie Controversy
What a time to be alive! With the atmosphere burning, #metoo, racism, staged racism, and all the wild things going on right now. It’s not that crazy to find another fashion brand under fire for offensive fashion. Seems almost ordinary after Gucci’s ski mask fiasco, Dolce & Gabbana’s cancelled Shanghai show, H&M’s careless ‘monkey’ sweatshirt ad, the comments from the Victoria’s Secret Chief Marketing Officer—the list could go on and on. Now Burberry joins other luxury brands in making careless choices with fashion.
Riccardo Tisci debuted his Burberry autumn/winter 2019 collection at London Fashion Week and things didn’t go over too well when the hoodie with noose strings came on the stage.
Liz Kennedy, the model who walked the runway in the hoodie went on Instagram to criticize the choice. “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,” she posted on her Instagram.
As expected, Burberry received tons of backlash for the hoodie. So much so, they released an apology and removed the design from their new collection.
“We are deeply sorry for the distress caused by one of the products that featured in our A/W 2019 runway collection,” said Marco Gobbetti, Burberry chief executive officer. “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. Though the design was inspired by the marine theme that ran throughout the collection, it was insensitive and we made a mistake.”
Let’s hope that this will be a learning experience for future brands and that fashion will grow to serve the consumer.