The fashion industry has long been called out for cultural appropriation, racist advertising, and its blatant lack of diversity across campaigns, catwalks and behind the lens. But could the recent resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement and heightened social awareness of racial discrimination and underrepresentation, following the US police killing of George Floyd in May, be fashion’s final wake-up call for inclusivity? Perhaps.
Over the years, there have been prominent examples of racially insensitive, or sometimes outright offensive, themes and imagery in fashion, filtering all the way through to final collections. In 2018, H&M’s campaign showcasing a Black boy wearing its ‘Coolest Monkey in the Jungle’ jumper caused controversy, while Gucci was forced to apologise last year for releasing a balaclava design that resembled blackface.