Prada to Undergo Sensitivity Training Due to Recent Racist Incidents
As part of a settlement with the New York City Commission on Human Rights.
Miuccia Prada, her husband Patrizio Bertelli, and Prada’s chief executive Carlo Mazzi, will be getting sensitivity training due to racist incidents committed back in 2018 by the company. According to The New York Times, the luxury fashion house has agreed to the training as part of a settlement with the New York City Commission on Human Rights.
Back in December 2018, civil rights lawyer Chinyere Ezie took to Facebook to share images of a Prada shop in downtown New York with Pradamalia figurines that resembled monkeys in blackface. “I don’t make a lot of public posts, but right now I’m shaking with anger… I walked past Prada’s SoHo storefront only to be confronted with the very same racist and denigrating #blackface imagery,” Ms. Ezie of the Center for Constitutional Rights wrote. She continues saying, “History cannot continue to repeat itself. Black America deserves better. And we demand better.”
Previously, Gucci faced the same issue with its blackface sweater and just like its fellow Italian fashion house, Prada took to Twitter to apologize and declared its intention to focus on diversity. However, not everyone on the Internet was convinced.
According to reports, the New York City Commission on Human Rights has been “investigating and in settlement talks with Prada, a process culminating in a deal signed on February 4.” The New York Times obtained the commission agreement which “requires Prada to provide sensitivity training, including ‘racial equity training,’ for all New York employees within 120 days of signing the agreement — as well as for executives in Milan since the commission argued that decisions made in Italy have repercussions in New York.”
For the full story, head on over to The New York Times for more information.
In other news, did you hear that Prada Group has been rumored to appoint Raf Simons at Miu Miu?
[1/2] #Prada Group abhors racist imagery. The Pradamalia are fantasy charms composed of elements of the Prada oeuvre. They are imaginary creatures not intended to have any reference to the real world and certainly not blackface.
— PRADA (@Prada) December 14, 2018
