JOIN OUR WHATSAPP CHANNEL
Comme des Garcons ‘deeply and sincerely’ apologises for braided wigs at Paris Fashion Week
Gucci, Prada, Ralph Lauren, Versace, and now, it is Comme des Garcons. Another high fashion brand gets in a racial controversy. Take a look!
Just a few days ago the American Luxury fashion brand Ralph Lauren found itself in hot waters over using the black fraternity’s Phi Beta Sigma symbol on a pair of chinos and now it’s Commes des Garcons. The brand which is Japanese fashion designer Rei Kawakubo’s brainchild finds itself in the middle of another race related controversy. The past few years have been full of high profile scandals, where brands such as Gucci, Prada and Versace have been called out on social media platforms for cultural appropriation and racism. This ended up in Gucci hiring its first ever global diversity panel.
Comme des Garcons found itself at the center of this controversy as for their latest menswear collection at Paris Fashion Week, all the white male models wore braided wigs. While the black models sported their own hair all done up in cornrows. A cornrow is a hairdo typically worn by Africans and social media was quick to call out Comme des Garcons for their mistake. The next morning, the brand issued an apology to the Dazed saying, “The inspiration for the headpieces for Comme des Garçons menswear FW '20 show was the look of an Egyptian prince. It was never our intention to disrespect or hurt anyone – we deeply and sincerely apologise for any offense it has caused.”
Julien d’Y’s, the hair stylist for the show who usually collaborates with Rei Kawakubo, dismissed the accusation by commenting “stupide” but with the mounting backlash, the hair stylist was quick to post an apology on Instagram. He further explains that a young Egyptian prince was the actual inspiration behind the hairdo.
What is your take on race related controversies and what can be done to avoid them in the near future? Comment below and let us know.
For more on Fashion and Beauty, follow @pinkvillafashion
