It’s time for brands to employ consultants who are able to explain the way the modern world works

Another week, another fashion gaffe. Oddly given the hoo-hah that greets each of these missteps, they keep occurring.

Just days before the Prada fandango in December, I’d been to Milan to interview Miuccia Prada, who had told me not only how aware – and wary – she was of the changing cultural landscape among luxury consumers, but that it was OK, because now that her 30-year-old son, Lorenzo, had joined the business, everyone at Prada was so much more culturally sensitive.

At least Prada had the wit to withdraw the offending charms immediately, as Gucci have done with this jumper.

While it’s easy to roll your eyes over how easily some are offended, it’s no bad thing if fashion is called to account for its actions. For years, because it was considered fluffy and indulgent, it got away with offences and infractions.

The ethos of fashion has for years been that bad behaviour, unsavoury attitudes and (largely unspoken, but widely accepted prejudices such as the one about black models not selling product) were an inalienable part of a creative ecosystem.

If you questioned why models had to look so thin/ill/abused/drug-addled/ under-age or why there had to be quite so much ostentatious use of fur (much of it dyed to look fake), you were in the wrong galaxy. Suck it up or go and work somewhere safe and boring.

It’s this la-la-la-la-la-fingers-in-ears loftiness that explains why fashion brands keep finding themselves on the back foot where public opinions are concerned. Italian brands seem to be particularly tin-eared.

But it doesn’t help that the zeitgeist changes depending which part of the world you’re in. What seems racially offensive in the West might pass without comment in the Middle East.

That’s why, much as the Gucci jumper’s major sin – as far as many are concerned – is an aesthetic one (“it’s just ugly” is one consensus), it’s not really for white people to judge whether or not it’s offensive.

It’s only when you find yourself part of a targeted minority that you appreciate how painful a thoughtless gesture can be. It’s time for brands that seem to find it impossible to empathise to employ consultants who can explain the way the modern world works.