Chanel's $1,325 USD Boomerang Is Branded "Tacky and a Gross Appropriation"
It’s native to the indigenous people in Australia.
Fashion – namely Chanel – is once again under the spotlight having released an accessory branded culturally inappropriate to the indigenous people in Australia.
The brand’s new $1325 USD boomerang is not only expensive but insensitive to a “cultural symbol” said artist Bibi Barba. Users took to social media to voice their concerns where the wood and resin product was called a “tacky and a gross appropriation.”
Alison Page, an Aboriginal designer, told The Telegraph:
“It’s 2017 and people haven’t worked out yet that appropriating another culture’s artifacts and putting your brand on it is offensive. It is appropriating our culture and commodifying it without reference to its origins. Will they bring out a Chanel stone axe next? The Chanel Indian headdress?”
Take a closer look at Chanel’s blunder here and read some reactions below.
Have decided to save for the next three years so I can connect with my culture via @CHANEL https://t.co/ocZSljGkPW
— Nayuka Gorrie (@NayukaGorrie) May 15, 2017
Unless @CHANEL is donating 100% of the proceeds to @aimementoring or something, this is a gross monetisation of an oppressed group’s culture
— Katie Baker (@KB4realz) May 16, 2017
@CHANEL your ‘boomerang’ is tacky and a gross appropriation of indigenous culture for your own profit
— madeleine (@madeleineoh) May 15, 2017