Gucci Has Withdrawn This $890 USD Polo Neck Sweater After Blackface Comparisons
The brand has issued an official apology.
After Prada recently came under fire for a keychain which bore an unsettling similarity to blackface, Gucci has found itself in an equivalent position. A polo neck sweater that formed part of the Italian luxury house’s Fall/Winter 2018 collection received backlash across social media for its resemblance to racist and denigrating blackface imagery.
The sweater itself, described as a “balaclava” knit is seen in fitted black knit finish, which extends over the lower part of the face where it boasts a cut-out around the mouth and red “lip” detailing. Gucci has since withdrawn the product from sale and responded in a statement on its Twitter profile with the following message:
“Gucci deeply apologizes for the offense caused by the wool balaclava jumper. We consider diversity to be a fundamental value to be fully upheld, respected and at the forefront of every decision we make. We are fully committed to increasing diversity throughout our organisation and turning this incident into a powerful learning moment for the Gucci team and beyond.”
Take a look at some of the outcry and Gucci’s official response below. In other news, did you hear that Gucci is currently the world’s most popular luxury label?
How does this keep happening with supposedly 'luxury' brands? No-one at Gucci clocked the similarity between the racist imagery of their $890 blackface jumper and Prada's keychain – the latter of which was pulled from stores less than two months ago? Or do they just not care? pic.twitter.com/pNxTbuJeXV
— Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff (@CharlieBCuff) February 7, 2019
Balaclava knit top by Gucci. Happy Black History Month y’all. pic.twitter.com/HA7sz7xtOQ
— Rashida (@fuckrashida) February 6, 2019
Gucci deeply apologizes for the offense caused by the wool balaclava jumper.
We consider diversity to be a fundamental value to be fully upheld, respected, and at the forefront of every decision we make.
Full statement below. pic.twitter.com/P2iXL9uOhs— gucci (@gucci) February 7, 2019
