Gucci says sorry for ‘Blackface’ jersey

ROME: Italian fashion house Gucci has apologised for cultural or racial insensitivity.

Gucci apologised for selling a jersey after people pointed out that its design looked like blackface.

The top, which has now been pulled from the fashion house’s online and physical stores, is a black polo neck that can be pulled up over the bottom half of the face to reveal oversize red lips.

It was ridiculed on social media as insensitive and racist, at a time when the US was grappling with cases of old photos of politicians with their faces blackened.

In December, Prada said it was no longer selling a line of accessories that featured a character with brown skin and exaggerated red lips after complaints they resembled blackface.

And last year, Dolce & Gabbana cancelled a Shanghai runway show and apologised after complaints that an advertising campaign featuring a Chinese model trying to eat pizza, spaghetti and a cannoli with chopsticks was culturally insensitive. |