Gucci withdraws sweater over blackface claims
Paris — Kering’s Gucci withdrew a sweater resembling blackface images like those currently roiling US politics, becoming the latest fashion brand to get embroiled in a controversy over perceptions of racism. The Italian luxury label apologised for selling the $890 black turtleneck, whose extra-high collar features a pair of exaggerated red lips around an opening for the wearer’s mouth. Gucci said it removed the item from its online and physical stores. The brand’s misstep comes as Virginia governor Ralph Northam resists calls to resign after the revelation of a photo from his 1984 medical school yearbook page, showing one individual dressed in a Ku Klux Klan robe alongside another in blackface. He has also apologised for darkening his skin to impersonate Michael Jackson for a dance contest in the same year. Gucci is only the latest European fashion brand to trip up. In December, Prada withdrew cartoon figures from window displays after they were called out for a resemblance to racis...
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