These Fashion Brands Have All Been Accused of Racism

Plus, suggestions for Black-owned businesses where you can shop instead

With the recent wave of protests around anti-Black racism and police brutality in the United States and Canada, there’s been a reckoning within some very prominent companies. Execs at female-focused companies like The Wing have resigned amid allegations that they fostering discriminatory and unequal work environments, while in the media world, brands like Vogue, Refinery 29, and Bon Apétit have all been taken to task for racist practices. This reckoning has also reached the fashion world. Emboldened and supported by people speaking out against systemic racism, Black and POC employees from several well-known fashion brands have spoken out about their treatment, detailing everything from racial microaggressions to overtly racist comments and racial profiling in the retail environment.

Additionally, many prestige brands that took part in the June 2 #BlackOutTuesday, posting black squares to their Instagram grids in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, were called out for being performative and virtue signalling.

These conversations are important, and it’s vital that these employees and customers voice their experiences and hold these brands—many of which profit from Black culture—accountable.

Here, a list of the fashion brands that have been called out for racist behaviour. Plus, Black-owned brands to shop instead.

Anthropologie

A brand that has become known for bohemian style with an Upper East Side price, Anthropologie has been accused of racism after several former employees revealed that stores in California, Chicago, Seattle, NYC and Canada use the code name “Nick” to refer to Black shoppers. The backlash to the brand came after a June 1 post on the fashion company’s Instagram account. The post—which featured a stylized Maya Angelou poem—called for equality and empathy, but failed to mention Black Lives Matter or the current protests.

While some fans of the brand initially replied with calls for the phrase to be printed on a shirt or poster and sold *in* Anthropologie stores (and applauded the company for a #BlackOutTuesday post on June 2), it wasn’t long before many online started to call the brand out for their hypocrisy, with former employees reporting having been “trained” to watch Black shoppers and follow them around the store, a claim that was supported by several Black shoppers. “How are you going to stop racially profiling your ‘[Nick’s]’?,” Instagram user @flleurdeblooms commented. “I worked at Anthropologie and the racial profiling was sickening. So many times the management told us to watch people of color over the headsets and I refused to follow around mostly black people who were just minding their own damn business and respectfully shopping. Please change.” In response, user @nickolas_anthony commented: “I thought Chicago was the only ones who used ‘Nick’ as a form of saying ‘watch that black woman who just walked in.’”

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Another day, another boho Karen retailer showing their true shades of beige. Last week, @anthropologie posted a Maya Angelou quote in splashy colors as a “call for equality”. With any mention of the #BlackLivesMatter movement absent, Angelou’s words could be interpreted more along the lines of “All lives matter”, lest Anthro offend their primary target audience. In the comment section, oblivious fans clamored for it to be released as a t-shirt or a poster. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Also in the comment section— claims of deep discriminatory practices. The code names different retailers have used to profile POC shoppers have come to light in lawsuits over the years—Moschino’s “Serena”, Zara’s “special order”, or Versace’s “D410” (the merchandise color code they use for black shirts)—but Anthropologie’s is maybe the most insidious yet. Comments from multiple employees confirm that stores in California, Chicago, Seattle, NYC and Canada use the code name “Nick” to refer to Black shoppers. Associates report being told to watch Black shoppers, and Black shoppers also commented confirming having been followed while shopping in their stores. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Anthropologie followed up with a post of a black square and then some promises of action they’ll take. At the same time, more hypocrisy was taking place at the corporate level. While the retailer was posting about committing to diversifying their workforce, they were at the same time asking POC for free labor. On May 26th, Queer Black creator Lydia Okello ( @styleisstyle ) was approached by a producer to potentially partake in Anthro’s #sliceofhappy Pride month campaign in exchange for a free outfit. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Okello replied with their typical rates and ended up getting trapped in a back and forth volley with no resolution after being told there was no budget for an influencer of their level (22.8k followers). For a campaign aimed to express what happiness means, surely they could’ve anticipated that no one, especially in a month meant to celebrate them, is happy to work for free. • #blacklivesmatter #blm #anthropologie #anthropologiehome #anthro #retail #codename #work #free #influencer #microinfluencer #labor #dietprada

A post shared by Diet Prada ™ (@diet_prada) on Jun 10, 2020 at 12:58pm PDT

Other followers also noted that the brand doesn’t predominantly feature Black or diverse models in their campaigns.

Read this next: 13 Black-Owned Fashion Brands to Shop Now

In response to the criticisms, Anthropologie released a statement on June 10 outlining their “long-standing policies” around business practices. In the post, they pushed back on claims that they use code words to identify and racially profile Black customers, stating: “we have never and will never have a code word based on a customer’s race or ethnicity. Our company has a zero-tolerance policy regarding discrimination or racial profiling in any form.”

Where to shop instead: Hope for Flowers by Tracy Reese

Aritzia

Canadian brand Aritzia is beloved by many and has been receiving positive press recently for their initiatives to gift frontline workers clothes and a recent $100,000 donation to Black Lives Matter and the NAACP, but that doesn’t mean that what’s happening behind the scenes is as great. Former employee Karissa Lewis, who worked at the company’s Yorkdale, Ont. location, responded to the fashion brand’s May 31 social media post about their BLM donation by sharing her personal experience working as a manager for Aritzia. In an Instagram story, Lewis shared that during her five-month tenure as the only Black manager on her team, she was treated differently by other managers, blatantly disrespected by customers and given cashier shifts despite being an associate manager. Lewis also recounted a particular incident where a Black employee was fired for speaking up about racism in the store, a decision Lewis—as the store’s manager—was not made aware of until after the employee was fired.

:: Hi @ARITZIA, I’d like to use my small platform to make a public proclamation of how poppy show y’all are. pic.twitter.com/oCYSDhThNv

— Kariss (@EverytingKariss) June 1, 2020

In a follow-up June 10 interview with Huffington Post, Lewis described the overall culture of the company and its stores as “very clique-y, very exclusionary,” and noted that Aritzia taught their employees “code words” to describe certain types of customers, “so you would know that you should spend your time with certain people and not others,” Lewis said. Per HuffPo, “A” would stand for Asian “as they were seen as being rich” and “TW” would stand for “time waster,” a.k.a. someone who would use up an associate’s time and not buy anything. According to Lewis, this could include Black customers.

Other users on Twitter and Instagram also responded to Aritzia’s donation announcement, recounting incidents in which they, as staff, were told to follow young Black customers around the store until they left.

I worked at @ARITZIA in Ottawa, Canada for one month many years ago. The manager at that time would instruct employees to approach black youth every 2 minutes asking if they “need help” until they left the store because they felt unwelcome and harassed. Never with white youth.

— Narineh Panosian (@npanosian) June 8, 2020

And another former Aritzia employee tweeted about being told—as the only Black employee—to straighten their hair to maintain the store image.

TB when I was the only Black person working and was told to straighten my hair to maintains the store image

— jam🌞 (@jamilayff) June 1, 2020

Ban.do

It turns out that even your favourite kitschy brands aren’t exempt from racism. Ban.do, the pastel-hued mental health-focused brand founded by Busy Philipp’s BFF Jen Gotch has also been in hot water as of late. On June 4, a former employee shared insight from her time working for the online brand. In a lengthy Instagram essay, Gabriella Sanchez, who says she worked at Ban.do from 2014 to 2016, accused Gotch of cultivating “an overall toxic culture,” detailing instances of overt racism from Gotch and style director Kelly Edmonson. One such instance occurred during Sanchez’s first week on the job, when the Ban.do group went for lunch. “We were sitting on the outside patio of the restaurant when a Black couple walked up and sat at the opposite end of the patio,” Sanchez wrote. “Jen was in the middle of telling a story when she saw the couple walk by she started talking in an ‘accent’—one very much like from those old racist movies with people in blackface. One of the girls asked her why she was talking like that and Jen made a joke of it and laughed and said it was her ‘plantation accent.’”

Sanchez said that when she didn’t engage and shrank back from the group after lunch, Gotch singled her out in front of everyone, saying: “I don’t think Gabby likes us.” Sanchez wrote that the rest of her time at Ban.do was “plagued with racism and emotional manipulation.”

In response to Sanchez’s post and several others by former employees, Gotch initially posted an apology (on Instagram, of course), before announcing on June 8 that she was stepping down as the brand’s Chief Creative Officer and taking a leave of absence. Gotch’s Instagram account has since been deleted, but on June 13, Ban.do released a similar statement on Insta announcing her removal.

Where to shop instead: Yowie

Celine

After sharing their supposed support for the movement against anti-Black racism and oppression, posting a statement to their Instagram page stating that the brand “stands against all forms of discrimination, oppression and racism,” luxury fashion brand Celine was called out by celeb stylist Jason Bolden for their performative solidarity, stating that the brand doesn’t dress Black celebs unless they’re working with a white stylist. So essentially, they refuse to work with Black stylists. “@celine wait really, u guys dnt dress any black celebs unless they have a white stylist…FACTS,” Bolden commented under the post, alongside a perplexed emoji.

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Celebrity stylist @JasonBolden called out French luxury brand @Celine for performative #BlackLivesMatter solidarity. Bolden, who dresses some of Hollywood’s brightest Black talents like Cynthia Erivo, Taraji P Henson, Janet Mock, and Yara Shahidi, commented the LVMH-owned brand’s post, stating that they don’t dress Black celebrities unless they have a white stylist. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ @HediSlimane , Celine’s creative director and the man responsible for axing Phoebe Philo’s beloved É, has been a subject of conversation among the industry before for his apparent aversion to Black models. In case you didn’t know, we crunched some numbers for you from all his runway shows thus far: ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Spring 2019: 6% (6 out of 96 exits) Fall 2019 Men’s: 8% (5 out of 66 exits) Fall 2019 Womenswear: 12% (7 out of 59 exits) Spring 2020 Menswear: 6% (3 out of 51 exits) Spring 2020 Womenswear: 9% (6 out of 64 exits) Fall 2020: 9% (10 out of 111 exits) • #blm #celine #lvmh #hedislimane

A post shared by Diet Prada ™ (@diet_prada) on Jun 3, 2020 at 12:15pm PDT

But we shouldn’t be too perplexed—or surprised by this statement. As Instagram account @diet_prada pointed out in their post on Bolden’s comment, Hedi Slimane, the brand’s current creative director, reportedly has an “aversion to Black models.” And the stats @diet_prada had to back this claim up are ABYSMAL. During his time with Celine thus far, Black models have been severely under-represented on the runway.

Celine has yet to respond or comment on the allegations.

Where to shop instead: Christopher John Rogers

Gucci

Taking a cue from model Karlie Kloss, Gucci’s Cleo Wade re-post about racism backfired after many on social media called out the company’s history of questionable—and frankly racist—decisions.

In February 2019, the brand came under fire for selling a black turtleneck sweater that resembled blackface. The sweater, which was part of Gucci’s Winter 2018 line, featured a roll-up collar that covered the lower half of the wearer’s face and featured a wide red lip outline around the mouth. And seriously Gucci: why?

Read this next: The World’s Major Beauty Queens Are All Black and It’s About Time

At the time, the fashion house released a statement apologizing, saying: “Gucci deeply apologizes for the offense caused by the wool balaclava jumper. We consider diversity to be a fundamental value to be fully upheld, respected, and at the forefront of every decision we make.” They have yet to respond to the recent backlash.

Where to shop instead: Victor Glemaud

Reformation

It’s every cool girl’s go-to for sustainable fashion, but according to some, Reformation is also the “go-to” place for racist corporate culture.

On June 5, former employee Elle Santiago posted a statement to Instagram describing her experience working for the company. “I am addressing this issue as a stance again companies who play a role in the systems that fail our black and brown brothers and sisters daily,” Santiago captioned her post, noting, “This is only one example of a very large and in charge problem.”

Santiago wrote that the decision to publicly call out of her former employer came on the heels of a rise in overt police brutality against Black people and Reformation having reached out to her to talk with them about her experience with the company. In her letter, Santiago lists a series of racist incidents she witnessed or was the victim of over the year she worked as an assistant manager (under no manager) at Reformation’s Los Angeles flagship store. These incidents included the consistent promotion of white employees over POC and Black employees who were better qualified. Santiago also talked about being introduced to the company’s founder, Yael Aflalo, noting that the founder appeared to “purposely not answer if I called her name.” Santiago also recalled an incident in which Aflalo failed to speak up when a white employee posted pictures of herself on Instagram eating fried chicken to celebrate Black History Month.

Read this next: Get to Know These 20 Black-Owned Beauty Companies

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Sounds like it’s time for @Reformation to make some reparations. The LA-based cult fave brand for “cool girls” has been put on blast by a former employee for a racist corporate culture. A week ago, they posted a vague BLM-adjacent sentiment and donation links, as did many other brands. They also took an extra step– reaching out to former employee Elle Santiago (@energyelle ). Santiago, who is Black, denied their request for a call, instead publishing her issues with the brand. Her story is an all-too-common example of the direct and indirect racism POC face at the workplace, especially in the fashion industry. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Founder Yael Aflalo reportedly judged and ignored Santiago, who was denied company growth opportunities. While performing store manager duties, she was repeatedly denied the promotion to store manager, and instead tasked with training white female outside hires. Her first February with the company, a strategy team member posted a selfie with another woman eating fried chicken, captioned with “Happy black history month!!”. It caused a scandal, yet the woman involved has since been promoted to VP of wholesale. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Stories from HQ made their way to the store, including Aflalo saying they were “not ready for that yet” in regard to casting Black models. Other employees have come forward, showing unsafe working conditions in an unrenovated NYC store. The video speaks volumes— employees, occasionally by in safety harnesses, lifted stock from the basement through a hole in the floor ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The brand’s sustainable focus has long gotten them a pass for the image they’ve cultivated, which mostly reads thin, white, and unbothered. Their sarcastic marketing tone has come off blasé to the point of being insensitive, and despite a resounding push for extended sizes, they’ve been added in a piecemeal capacity for years rather than as a full brand extension. They seem to have outgrown their original sustainability goals, and are well on their way to being another mass label that occasionally uses certified rayon. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ With increasing agitation from their fan base, will this be a coffin nail for Reformation? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ • #reformation #dietprada

A post shared by Diet Prada ™ (@diet_prada) on Jun 6, 2020 at 2:05pm PDT

After first posting an apology on Reformation’s Instagram page, Aflalo announced on June 12 that she’ll be stepping down as the brand’s CEO, effective immediately.

Where to shop instead: A.Au

Zimmerman

Another fashion label being called out for discrimination against its employees is the boho brand Zimmerman. Much like Reformation, after Zimmerman posted on social media in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, several former interns and employees came forward to call out the company for performative allyship. And a peek behind the curtain shows that racism within the company is deeply entrenched. Per @diet_prada, the “Grooming & Presentation Standards” portion of the retail employee manual (which ex-employees say was circulated up until September 2019) shows that Black women are completely absent, with stars like Olivia Palermo and several white Victoria’s Secret Angels featured as the “standard.”

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@zimmermann , another likely fave of Boho Karens worldwide, is under fire after throwing their hat into the performative allyship ring. As multiple former interns came forward with their experiences facing and witnessing anti-Black discrimination at the company, a telling brand guideline was leaked. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ In the “Grooming & Presentation Standards” portion of the retail employee manual, Black women are completely absent in favor of the likes of Olivia Palermo and various VS angels. This is actually an updated edition—the photos of Asian models were added only after employees raised complaints about its lack of diversity. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The makeup portion features an exhaustive list of beauty products aimed at achieving a glow like Romee Strijd or Candace Swanepoel, but the hair section is where things get really problematic. By specifying that hair must be “soft, textured loose waves, or blow-dried straight”, while prohibiting “high buns, top knots, plaits, braids”, the language seems worded in a way to make it incredibly difficult for any Black employees to wear their hair natural or in accordance to their cultural identity. Ex-employees say this version of the guide circulated up until Sept. 2019. For reference, the NYC Commission on Human Rights issued new guidelines in Feb. 2019, stating that the targeting of people based on their hair or hairstyle will be considered racial discrimination. An updated version specified that hair could be worn in its natural state, but still prohibited buns, knots, and braids. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ In comments on the brand’s post, former intern @desireejcelestin describes a high-level employee mocking a Black model’s hair, comparing it to a dust bunny she picked up off the floor. The model complained to her agency, and was temporarily dismissed until her agent resolved the issue. Zimmermann requested the model apologize. Other Black interns also came forward saying they weren’t allowed to attend the runway show because they “didn’t understand the brand”, while others attended. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ There’s a slight silver lining to these hollow posts though—they’re exposing myriad injustices POC face in an industry that seems more rotten day by day. •

A post shared by Diet Prada ™ (@diet_prada) on Jun 8, 2020 at 1:06pm PDT

And in the hair section of the manual, language is worded in such a way that seems aimed to exclude Black employees and their natural hair or cultural hairstyles. For example, the manual specifies that employee’s hair must be “soft, textured loose waves, or blow-dried straight,” and prohibits “high buns, top knots, plaits, [and] braids.”

In response to being called out, Zimmerman issued an apology on June 12, noting that the brand’s intent was to always foster a positive environment, writing: “We apologise to all those that have been hurt by our failure to adequately protect against discrimination and are truly sorry that we have not lived up to these expectations.”

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We started Zimmermann just under 30 years ago and it is our life’s work. As founders, the realisation that our company has let people down, especially women of colour, is an urgent call to action. We have always sought to create positive and progressive career opportunities for young people and have strived to create store and workplace experiences that are personal, enjoyable, and respectful. We apologise to all those that have been hurt by our failure to adequately protect against discrimination and are truly sorry that we have not lived up to these expectations. The instances of unacceptable behaviour at our company and in our business practices that contributed to the broader problem of systemic racism do not represent our values, and we are taking immediate actions to fix this. We have started this work and we have a long way to go. We know that meaningful change takes time and persistence. Last week we made a series of commitments and we are making initial progress. We formed and appointed members to our Diversity and Inclusion Group, we are implementing training programs on unconscious bias, we are updating all our internal training materials and guidelines to ensure they are racially inclusive, we are auditing the diversity of our company globally, we have donated A$150,000 in total to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Aboriginal Legal Service, and we are continuing to listen to you. To hold ourselves accountable, we must be transparent and share more information with you. We have created a Diversity and Inclusion Statement on our website which outlines in more detail the activity we have underway. If you are interested in learning more, please visit via the link in our bio. We are determined for our brand to make a positive contribution to Black communities, as well as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and the global effort to create a fair and compassionate world. We know that you will ultimately judge us based on our actions not our words, and this is just the start. Simone and Nicky Founders

A post shared by ZIMMERMANN (@zimmermann) on Jun 12, 2020 at 1:59am PDT

The company said that they have formed a Diversity and Inclusion Group, are implementing training programs on unconscious bias, are updating their internal training materials and guidelines to ensure racial inclusivity and are auditing the diversity of Zimmerman globally. In addition, the company donated $150,000  to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Aboriginal Legal Service.

Where to shop instead: Fe Noel