Gucci recalls ‘blackface sweater’ in the latest fashion house faux pas

Gucci has apologised after complaints a wool sweater with an oversized collar designed to cover the face resembled blackface makeup.

The luxury Italian brand said the item had been pulled from its online and physical stores.

It was the latest case of a fashion house having to apologise for cultural or racial insensitivity – and further evidence Italy, in particular, has a wretched record with racial insensitivity, staining everything from fashion to football to politics.

In a statement posted on Twitter on Wednesday, Gucci said it was committed to diversity and considered it a “fundamental value to be fully upheld, respected and at the forefront of every decision we make”.

The turtleneck black wool balaclava sweater, which sells for $890 (£687) on one site, covers the nose and includes a red cut-out for the mouth. It 0 The ‘blackface’ sweater created a social media storm

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

“Gucci deeply apologises for the offence caused by the wool balaclava jumper,” a company statement said. The statement said the company intended to turn the incident “into a powerful learning moment for the Gucci team and beyond”.

Gucci, owned by French conglomerate Kering with an Italian design team, is not alone.

In December, Italian designer 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 promotional videos seen as racist and subsequent insulting Instagram messages stoked a furore in one of the world’s largest markets for luxury goods.

The advert campaign featured a Chinese model trying to eat pizza, spaghetti and a cannoli with chopsticks.

Non-italian fashion brands have also been on the receiving end of complaints about insensitive products, behaviour or ad campaigns.

British designer John Galliano was removed as creative director at the French fashion house Dior in 2011 and later given a suspended sentence by a French court for having made an anti-semitic and racist rant at a Paris bar. The designer later apologised.