The luxury brand faced backlash after it unveiled a hoodie with strings tied in the shape of a noose during London Fashion Week
Burberry has vowed to embrace diversity and inclusion moving forward after drawing criticism for unveiling a controversial hoodie design during London Fashion Week.
The British luxury brand announced its plan to retrain staff in the hopes of increasing “consciousness and understanding on social issues”. It also pledged to support charity groups such as the Samaritans in their efforts to provide assistance to people in crisis.
“We are not where we need or want to be,” Burberry CEO Marco Gobbetti said
Burberry faced social media backlash after it unveiled a hoodie with strings tied in the shape of a noose on the runway during London Fashion Week.
Model Liz Kennedy, who was part of Burberry’s show, shared a photo of the hoodie on Instagram. She criticised the company for apparently making light of lynching and suicide.
“Suicide is not fashion,” Kennedy wrote. The post, directed at “everyone at Burberry” but especially its creative director Riccardo Tisci, garnered support from social media users.
The company has since apologised for the “distress” the hoodie had caused and removed the item from its autumn-winter collection.
Aside from retraining employees, Burberry said it would assemble an advisory board consisting of external experts. It also hopes to increase diversity among staff by offering creative arts scholarships to people from other countries and providing full-time employment to graduates of the program over the next few years.
