13 Fashion Controversies That Sparked Passionate Debate

For as long as there has been a fashion industry, there have been fashion controversies.

To be sure, taking risks is a necessity when it comes to the always-evolving art of design, but some key players in the fashion world have stood accused of pushing certain boundaries all too far. Their questionable choices have often become springboards for complicated discussions of cultural appropriation, beauty standards, race and everything in-between.

These moments in particular definitely got people talking — and arguing — about how these complex issues can and do play out on runways and fashion spreads.

Revolve Is Accused of Selling a Fat-Shaming Sweatshirt

Earlier this month, model Tess Hollidaycalled outthe online retailer for selling a sweatshirt that read “BEING FAT IS NOT BEAUTIFUL IT’S AN EXCUSE.”

“LOLLLLL @REVOLVE y’all are a mess,” she wrote on Twitter, captioning a screenshot of a sample-size model wearing the garment.

Fashionistareported that the sweatshirt was part of an LPA collection that featured shaming quotes that were said to celebrities like Lena Dunham and Cara Delevingne online. Other quotes included “Horrible Result of Modern Feminism” and “Too boney to be boned.”

In the wake of the outcry, Dunham spoke out about her involvement in the project on Instagram.

“For months I’ve been working on a collaboration with my friend Pia’s company LPA through parent company @revolve – sweatshirts that highlight quotes from prominent women who have experienced internet trolling & abuse,” she wrote. “Without consulting me or any of the women involved, @revolve presented the sweatshirts on thin white women, never thinking about the fact that difference and individuality is what gets you punished on the Internet, or that lack of diversity in representation is a huge part of the problem (in fact, the problem itself.) As a result, I cannot support this collaboration or lend my name to it in any way.”

“I’d like to especially extend my love and support to [model Paloma Elsesser], whose quote was the first to be promoted and mangled,” Dunham continued. “She’s a hero of mine. Like me, she gave her quote in good faith and shared her vulnerability in order to support arts education and to spread her message of empowerment, and she wasn’t consulted in the marketing.”

H&M advertises a racially insensitive sweatshirt.

The Swedish-owned retailer faced an onslaught of backlash after running an ad featuring a black child in a sweatshirt that read “coolest monkey in the jungle.” White child models were used for other products in the same collection.

The criticism led the brand to issue an apology and remove the image from its website, but they were still forced to reckon with consequencesfrom its celebrity partners.

The “Starboy” singer starred in the H&M Spring Icons campaign and designed an 18-piece collection for the company last year.

Rapper G-Eazy followed suit on Tuesday, telling his Instagram followers, “Over the past months I was genuinely excited about launching my upcoming line and collaboration with @HM… Unfortunately, after seeing the disturbing image yesterday, my excitement over our global campaign quickly evaporated, and I’ve decided at this time our partnership needs to end.”

H&M addressed the complaints in a statement, writing, “We understand that many people are upset about the image. We, who work at H&M, can only agree. We are deeply sorry that the picture was taken, and we also regret the actual print. Therefore, we have not only removed the image from our channels, but also the garment from our product offering globally. It is obvious that our routines have not been followed properly. This is without any doubt. We will thoroughly investigate why this happened to prevent this type of mistake from happening again.”

Vogue"misses the mark" with editorial about gender fluidity.

“It” coupleGigi Hadidand Zayn Malik definitely made a splash when they posed together for themagazine’s August 2017 cover, but the response was not all positive.

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Their spread’s photos and accompanying article were meant to highlight gender-fluid fashion, but critics accusedVogueof misusing the term “gender fluid” and thus misrepresenting actual gender non-conforming and transgender individuals.

“I like that shirt. And if it’s tight on me, so what? It doesn’t matter if it was made for a girl,” Maliksaid in the storyabout wearing a T-shirt from his girlfriend’s closet. Added Hadid, “It’s not about gender. It’s about, like, shapes. And what feels good on you that day. And anyway, it’s fun to experiment.”

Vogueissued an apology in a statement to PEOPLE following the backlash. “The story was intended to highlight the impact the gender-fluid, non-binary communities have had on fashion and culture,” a spokeswoman wrote. “We are very sorry the story did not correctly reflect that spirit — we missed the mark. We do look forward to continuing the conversation with greater sensitivity.”

Kendall Jenneris accused of trivializing the Black Lives Matter movement in Pepsi ad.

Though not technically fashion, the soda brand continued its tradition of featuring supermodels (à la Cindy Crawford) and picked Jenner to star in a 2017 ad in which she bridges the gap between cops and protestors with a can of Pepsi.

Courtesy Pepsi

Karlie Kloss dresses as a geisha inVogue.

Accusations of yellowfacefollowed Kloss’s appearance in a Japanese-inspired spread for the fashion magazine’s March 2017 diversity-themed issue.

In the spread, titled “Spirited Away,” Kloss wears traditional geisha garments, powdery makeup and a nihongami wig. Shots include her posing alongside a sumo wrestler and in front of a tea house.

Vogueremoved the photos from their site in response to the uproar, as the supermodel posted an apology to Twitter.

“These images appropriate a culture that is not my own and I am truly sorry for participating in a shoot that was not culturally sensitive. My goal is, and always will be, to empower and inspire women. I will ensure my future shoots and projects reflect that mission,” she wrote.

Marc Jacobs includes dreadlocks in his New York Fashion Week show.

Kendall Jenner,Gigi Hadid, Karlie Kloss and a host of other supermodels strutted down the runway sporting technicolor dreadlocks for the designer’s fall 2016 show.

Sam Deitch/BFA/REX/Shutterstock

Kylie Jennerappears in a wheelchair inInterview.

Social media users criticized the reality star andInterviewmagazine when sheposed in a wheelchairfor their 2015 Art issue.

Steven Klein

“It’s deeply disturbing,” Emily Smith Beitiks, associate director of the Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability in San Francisco,told CNNof her reaction to the shoot. “People with disabilities are already seen as powerless, and this just reinforces that.”

In a statement toPEOPLE, the magazine defended its choice to use a wheelchair as a way of exploring themes of subjectivity and power.

“Throughout the Art Issue, we celebrate a variety of women who are both the creators and subjects of their artistic work, and the Kylie feature aims to unpack Kylie’s status as both engineer of her image and object of attention,” the statement continued. “Our intention was to create a powerful set of pictures that get people thinking about image and creative expression, including the set with the wheelchair, but our intention was certainly not to offend anyone.”

Jordyn Taylor; Annie Elainey

Karlie Kloss wears a Native American-style headdress at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion show.

Kloss’s latest controversy isn’t the first time she’s been condemned for cultural appropriation. In 2012, she wore a floor-length Native-American-inspired headdress, moccasins, and fringed lingerie at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.

Bryan Bedder/Getty

CBS removed the offensive look from the show’s broadcast following the backlash, and Kloss issued an apology on Twitter.

“I am deeply sorry if what I wore during the VS Show offended anyone. I support VS’s decision to remove the outfit from the broadcast,” she tweeted.

Nykhor Paul calls out the fashion world for its treatment of black models.

In 2015, the South Sudanese beauty drew attention to the industry’s failure to treat dark-skinned models professionally.

“Dear white people in the fashion world! Please don’t take this the wrong way but it’s time you people get your s— right when it comes to our complexion! Why do I have to bring my own makeup to a professional show when all the other white girls don’t have to do anything but show up wtf! Don’t try to make me feel bad because I am blue black its 2015 go to Mac, Bobbi Brown, Makeup forever, Iman cosmetic, black opal, even Lancôme and Clinique carried them plus so much more,” she wrote on Instagram.

“Just because you only book a few of us doesn’t mean you have the right to make us look ratchet. I’m tired of complaining about not getting book as a black model and I’m definitely super tired of apologizing for my blackness!!!!” she added.

“Why can’t we be part of fashion fully and equally?”

Kanye Westissues a casting call for “multiracial women only.”

Many questioned the implications of a casting call for West’s Yeezy Season 4 show that the designer shared on Twitter. The call-out requested “multiracial women only.”

One woman who protested at that casting explained her issues with the callon her Tumblr, writing, “This casting call for “Multiracial ONLY” (not MULTIETHNIC which would still be fetishization) asserts that Black can only be beautiful when “MIXED” with another RACE. There is a history of wanting to dilute the Blackness of one’s children because of the longstanding stigmatization of Blackness.”

The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show features Asian-inspired lingerie.

In a since-deleted op-ed forCosmopolitantitled “Why Can’t Victoria’s Secret Stop Designing Racist Lingerie,” writer Helin Jungtook aimat the undergarment company for the appropriative looks on display at their 2016 show.

Michael Stewart/FilmMagic

“There’s a lot of talk of China as a dominant world power of the 21st century, and the U.S. government, Hollywood, and now Victoria’s Secret, it seems, are pivoting to face a new reality. But the Orientalism on display here doesn’t show an understanding or an attempt at dialogue. It doesn’t close any gaps,” Jung continued.

“The brand and its creative leads shamelessly cherry-picked imagery, breaking apart aesthetic references from wherever they wanted and stitching them back together again. They’re telling us its worldliness. It’s not, it’s a hack job.”

Leslie Jones says designers won’t dress her for theGhostbusterspremiere.

Jones struggled to find a designer willing to work with her ahead of the July 2016 premiere of theGhostbustersreboot.

“It’s so funny how there are no designers wanting to help me with a premiere dress for movie. Hmmm that will change and I remember everything,” she wrote on Twitter.

Designer Christian Sirianostepped into help Jones prepare for the glam night and noted that he shouldn’t be celebrated for working with women of diverse sizes.

Vogueis accused of publishing a racially insensitive cover starring LeBron James and Gisele Bündchen.

In April 2008, the basketball star and the supermodel inspired heated conversations with a cover photo that some people viewed as perpetuating racial stereotypes.

In the photo, James is seen dribbling a basketball and making an aggressive facial expression as a windblown Bündchen smiles in his arm. Critics believed the shotwas reminiscentof 1930s-era promotional pieces forKing Kong.

source: people.com