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| H&M's 'Coolest Monkey' hoodie |
It’s been just over a year since H&M apologised for an advertising image featuring a black boy modelling a hoodie with the slogan “Coolest Monkey in the Jungle”. The Swedish brand issued the following statement at the time: “We have got this wrong and we agree that, even if unintentional, passive or casual racism needs to be eradicated wherever it exists.” Shortly after, the company appointed its first ever global leader for diversity and inclusiveness, Annie Wu.
At the time of the scandal, Wu was H&M’s global manager for employee relations.Born in Taiwan and raised in New York, how did she feel about the Coolest Monkey hoodie? “I think for all of us it was more shock, like everyone else: how could that happen? But then also, how do we then tell the world that this is not who we are, and that it was completely a mistake?”
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| Gucci's 'blackface' jumper |
The demand for a more transparent fashion industry is making it very difficult for brands to make these “mistakes”. It’s not just H&M – Zara, too, has courted controversy in recent years after selling items emblazoned with Pepe the Frog and swastikas, among other missteps. It’s not just the high street either: luxury brands Prada, Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana have all had high-profile incidents where, between them, they have managed to alienate more than half the world’s population. Most recently, Gucci apologised for its polo neck jumper and balaclava combo, featuring a cut-out around the mouth outlined with thick red lips that was labelled “Blackface”. “Balaclava knit top by Gucci. Happy Black History Month y’all,” wrote Twitter-user Rashida. It took 10 hours for Gucci to respond, also on Twitter: “We are fully committed to increasing diversity throughout our organisation and turning this incident into a powerful learning moment for the Gucci team and beyond,” read their statement. “If you hire more black people and cultivate an environment where people on all levels of the company feel comfortable to speak up, incidents like this will be avoided,” commented The Glowboss (@VanessaVeasley).
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| H&M's 'Unemployed' hoodie |
But the Coolest Monkey incident was not the first time H&M offended. In November 2017, the company sold a T-shirt with the slogan “Unemployed” on it, which was quickly withdrawn. While Wu agrees that H&M has a “global responsibility” as an employer, she says: “We are still a fashion company, so we do want to push the envelope a little bit to catch these trends and things that still happen.”
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