H&M says sorry for picturing black child in ‘monkey’ hoodie
♦ A high street fashion chain has apologised after its website featured a black child model wearing a “Coolest monkey in the jungle” hoodie.
H&M faced criticism online from people accusing it of being “inappropriate”, “disgusting” and “negligent”. The image of the model has been removed from its website, while two others featuring different designs in the same category and modelled by white children remain.
One bears the words “Mangrove jungle” or “Official survival expert”, while the other has outlines of various animals including giraffes and tigers.
Kate Osamor, the Labour MP, tweeted: “I was totally shocked, dismayed to say the very least, to find this online imagine. @hm do you think this imagery is an appropriate representation of a young black boy?”
Alex Medina, who works in brand design, tweeted: “In the year 2018 there’s no way brands/art directors can be this negligent and lack awareness.”
The retailer said: “This image has now been removed from all H&M channels and we apologise to anyone this may have offended.”