Apparel Online India Magazine July 1st Issue 2018 | Page 11

WORLD WRAP
celebrate the baseball team’s double
series sweeps against the Boston Red
Sox, the event Yankees fans call ‘The
Boston Massacre’. The range was
recalled and an apology tendered.
Sometimes seemingly harmless
slogans too raise a huge hue and
cry. In a back-to-school collection
a few years ago, JCPenney put on
sale a young girl’s T-shirt that said
– ‘I’m too pretty to do homework…’;
this was considered by many as
being sexist and prejudiced to the
intelligence of girls. On similar lines,
many alleged that Urban Outfitters
promoted eating disorders with its
‘Eat Less’ V-neck tee and critics
slammed Zara in 2014 for making
a children’s shirt that resembled a
Holocaust prisoner uniform. stains resembling blood. The same
will happen with H&M fans.
There have been countless
campaigns, fashion stories, clothing
items, and social media posts that
brands, designers and magazines
have had to apologise for and with
apologies in the fashion world
becoming a ‘regular’, bigger brands
like ASOS, Urban Outfitters, H&M
or Dolce & Gabbana get away with
an apology without any long-term
impact, as people forget almost as
quickly as they start tweeting their
displeasure. They happily scroll
through ASOS’ website and don’t
think back about the time when the
company a T-shirt with the word
‘slave’, and used a black model
in 2016, or they walk past Urban
Outfitters without recalling that in
2014 Urban Outfitters created a Kent
State sweatshirt, complete with red But smaller brands that are still
building an image have a tougher
time in crisis management situations
and they cannot get away by just
posting an apology, however sincere
and heartfelt it may be. Retail
experts believe that such brands
can only move past the controversy
if they continue to engage their
customers, being transparent and
focused on what they do best. A
recent example of how smaller
brands can save the day is in
reference to UZINYC, a small brand
based in New York City, which came
under fire in August 2017 when
it named a garment the ‘Refugee
Dress’. The brand was forced to
change the name of the dress from
‘Refugee Dress’ to ‘Oxford Dress’,
after a storm of criticism on social
ESSENTIALS
Kendall and Kylie Jenner had to apologise for plastering their faces over musical icons to sell T-shirts
media. In a public statement UZINYC
said that it originally created the
dress to draw attention to the
refugee crisis as it is important
to keep these issues within public
discourse; however, respecting the
negative perception of the thought,
the dress was immediately renamed
and an apology issued.
Thanks to social media, brands and
designers are now more responsive
to criticism, realising that not only
does it impact business, but also
the brand image. In a market where
customer loyalty is as fickle as the
weather, brands have little option but
to offer an apology for an offensive
act, but what is more important is
that the supply chain needs to be
vigilant to prevent such incidences
and should not keep hoping that
things will pass, since public memory
is very short lived.
There have
been countless
campaigns,
fashion stories,
clothing items,
and social media
posts that brands,
designers and
magazines have
had to apologise
for and with
apologies in the
fashion world
becoming a
‘regular’, bigger
brands like ASOS,
Urban Outfitters,
H&M or Dolce &
Gabbana get
away with an
apology without
any long-term
impact, as people
forget almost as
quickly as they
start tweeting their
displeasure.
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