One prominent fashion label has stirred up quite a controversy, after releasing a new collection which featured items of clothing which strongly resembled the outfits worn by those in concentration camps during the Holocaust.
The brand in question was Spanish fashion label, Loewe.
Loewe released the outfit online as part of a wider collection, and priced the black and white striped ensemble at $1,840.
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However, the outfit was not available for long before people started pointing out how crushingly insensitive it was.
The outfit was quickly compared to concentration camp uniforms.
The outfit’s vertical striped black and white pattern, button-down shirt style, and panel over the breast pocket created a haunting ensemble which is unavoidably reminiscent of concentration camp uniforms.
Diet Prada, a fashion industry watchdog, posted the comparison images on Instagram, writing:
“Unable to see anything but concentration camp uniforms in this $1,840 ensemble from @loewe ‘s William De Morgan capsule, a collection meant to ‘capture a freedom of imagination’.”
The outfit was called “uncannily disturbing”.
The outfit was released as a part of a new collection commemorating William De Morgan, a 19th Century British ceramist. And, in an interview with Vogue , the lead designer had described the collection as, “fantasy – but an odd type of fantasy”.
The outfit didn’t remain on the website for long once the torrential maelstrom of negative feedback began.
The company issued an apology shortly after.
In an Instagram story, Loewe issues an official apology, claiming that any references to the outfits worn in concentration camps during the Holocaust were completely unintentional.
The company then also went on to inform the public that the outfit had been removed from the online stores as well as their physical stores.
There were many responses online to the collection.
There were a wide array of responses from people condemning the company, with some coming from relatives of those who were affected by the Holocaust:
“As a someone who’s family been forced wearing these during WWII – this is absolutely disgusting that someone still can’t add 1 plus 1 and decide that this is atrocious and inhuman.”
“How awful is the staff of a company when not one of them brought up that this outfit CLEARLY resembles the uniforms forced on Holocaust victims…? I saw this scrolling by and immediately made that connection. It’s not something one forgets after seeing footage from the time.”
Some people took a more cynical approach to the outfit’s release.
There was also some people who considered that the company had done this specifically to try and garner public attention:
“Hard to imagine that this was an accident. They pulled the outfit after they got the publicity that they presumably wanted. When Fashion does ‘edgy’, it is almost always shallow and contemptible.”
While I don’t personally buy into the idea that they did this on purpose, it does raise a good point about today’s culture. Some companies can push the boat out with a deliberately edgy product, with an apology ready to be released, for the sole purpose of exposure.
This is far from the first time that a clothing manufacturer has made such an error.
The above shirt was released by Zara several years ago. The company came under heavy fire for its use of a yellow star on stripes due to the obvious similarities to outfits worn during the Holocaust.
Zara attempted to justify the shirt by saying that the star was inspired by classic westerns, and the word “Sheriff” can faintly be seen in the yellow star. However, the company was rightfully forced to remove the outfits from stores.
Urban Outfitters also came under similar scrutiny.
Urban Outfitters released the above tapestry, featuring a pink triangle which was nearly identical to the one that gay men were forced to wear in Nazi concentration camps. At the time, according to The Washington Post , the Anti-Defamation League National Director Abraham H. Foxman wrote a letter to Urban Outfitters chief executive Richard Hayne, saying:
“Whether intentional or not, this gray and white striped pattern and pink triangle combination is deeply offensive and should not be mainstreamed into popular culture. We urge Urban Outfitters to immediately remove the product.”
Hopefully, this will be the last time such a controversy is caused by fashion retailers.
It is hard to imagine that someone at Loewe could have looked at that outfit and not realized the obvious problem it could cause. They have such a strong visual connection that it is nearly impossible to not draw these comparisons.
Thankfully, the product is no longer available. And, while this is hopefully the last time something like this is released, the odds are that we will sadly see something like this again in the future as fashion companies vie for publicity on the internet.
h/t: Yahoo & Washington Post
