SOURCING
FASHION ON BLAST
" T H IS IS M OR E A B OU T H AV ING A CONS T RUCT I V E DI A LOGU E W I T H COM PA N IE S TO HOPEF U L LY G E T T H EM TO A B E T T ER PL ACE.” —W hi tne y D aile y, P or ter No v elli
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ashion has provided ample fodder for recent attempts—successful or otherwise—at cancellation. Though he initially denied what he called “grotesquely false accusations” against him, Alexander Wang eventually apologized after a male model, backed by S-t Model Mgmt and Diet Prada, accused the designer of sexual assault. After meeting with his accusers and the lawyer representing them, Wang said he regretted “acting in a way that caused them pain,” adding, “life is about learning and growth, and now that I know better, I will do better.” In the wake of the March Atlanta spa shootings, a Change.org petition demanding Chinatown Market rebrand received renewed attention when Diet Prada picked up the cause. A March 25 post decrying the “white-owned streetwear brand’s appropriation of a historic and culturally significant neighborhood” garnered tens of thousands of likes and the petition attracted thousands of signatures. The brand announced it would change its name on March 29. Like many brands, Man Repeller responded to last summer’s protest movement by posting a letter in support of Black Lives Matter. When readers responded with criticism, reading the letter as hollow signaling from a fashion blog lacking in diversity,
founder Leandra Medine Cohen announced she would “step back.” The publication never seemed to regain its footing, however. It attempted a rebrand as Repeller in September, but it announced its closure less than two months later. In 2018, the ever-controversial Dolce & Gabbana rankled the Chinese market by releasing a marketing campaign that was quickly deemed racist by those in and outside the country. The label took down the videos within 24 hours and nixed a scheduled runway show. Co-founders Domenico Dolce and Steffano Gabbana later apologized, vowing to respect Chinese culture. However, while the broader world seems to have forgiven the brand—revenues grew 4.9 percent in the year ending in March 2019— its products still can’t be found on platforms like Tmall, JD.com and Secoo. Shortly after Reformation shared its support for the Black Lives Matter movement, a post accusing the brand of passing over Black employees for advancement went viral. The former employee called for founder Yael Aflalo’s removal and little more than a week later the CEO resigned. In its 2020 sustainability scorecard—now with goals and metrics on diversity and inclusion—Reformation dubbed its “people focus” as a low point for the year and said it is “doing the work to prioritize diversity, equity and inclusion.” —CD
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Bloomstein said. “They said we need to keep digging into this, figure out how this happened here. So, they conducted a broader investigation and they continued to update the media saying, ‘Yes, this is a problem here, here’s what we’re still doing about it.’ So, they kind of kept the story in the news.” Clark noted that it’s not always the immediate controversy at issue when a brand gets canceled, pointing to Gucci as an example. In February 2019, the luxury label came under scrutiny for a roll-up collar sweater that appeared to mimic blackface. The incident came a few months after Prada pulled a charm that customers said resembled blackface and shortly before Burberry apologized for sending a hoodie with a noose around the neck down the London Fashion Week runway.
“And it wasn't just about the fact that they were using these images of blackface,” Clark said. “But it was also a matter of the ways these labels have co-opted Black culture in the past, the way that they have failed to hire and meaningfully position and promote people from marginalized groups… And it was about the fact that, in that instance, [Gucci] was representative of the practices of extraction that the fashion industry, that the entertainment industry has been known for.” To avoid facing these sorts of public repercussions, Bloomstein said brands “should be self-policing, whether it’s how they’re treating employees, how their employees are treating customers, how they are creating a culture that supports good behavior. Brands can get out ahead of PR nightmares if they solve them when they are HR problems.”
RIVET NO.12 / JUNE 2021