Luxury fashion brand Gucci has pulled a black woollen jumper from sale and apologised after the clothing item was criticised for resembling the blackface and being offensive.
Blackface is a form of theatrical make-up that was popular in the 1830s when white actors would darken their faces with a mixture of charcoal, grease and soot, and perform racist caricatures of African-Americans.
“Gucci deeply apologises for the offense caused by the wool balaclava jumper,” the company said. “We consider diversity to be a fundamental value to be fully upheld, respected, and at the forefront of every decision we make,” it said, adding that the incident has become a “powerful learning moment” for the team.
The black turtleneck jumper pulls up over the wearer’s nose and has a cut-out around the mouth with red stitching to resemble oversized lips. Several social media users criticised the company for invoking racial stereotypes.
In January, luxury brand Prada withdrew items that were criticised for evoking racist imagery. The label pulled products from a line of goods called “Pradamalia” which appeared to resemble black monkeys with oversized red lips. Swedish multinational clothing retail company H&M, too, faced severe criticism in January after it released an advertisement of a black child wearing a hoodie that said “coolest monkey in the jungle”.
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