Fashion designer faces backlash over racist slur

All eyes are on Paris, as the biggest names in the industry flock to the fashion capital for one of the most highly-anticipated events in the sartorial calendar, Haute Couture Fashion Week.

But it seems media attention soon shifted from the catwalk, after Russian couturier Ulyana Sergeenko came under fire for using a racist slur.

The designer sent a handwritten note to street style star and close friend Miroslava Duma which read: “To my ni**as in Paris”.

And Duma shared a snap of the offensive message with a heart emoji via Instagram Stories .

Of course, the fashion industry’s key players reacted accordingly, as Naomi Campbell screen-grabbed the image and reposted the shot with the words, “this better not be real”.

In response to the backlash, Sergeenko took to Instagram to apologise, as she wrote: “Kanye West is one of my favourite musicians, and NP is one of my favourite songs, and yes, we call each other the N word sometimes when we want to believe that we are just as cool as these guys who sing it.”

She continued, “I am deeply sorry to everyone whom I might have offended. Mira is a dear friend and even the fact that she so naively posted my private card on her social means that we meant nothing wrong and didn’t realised [sic] the consequences.”

But fashion followers were less than impressed with her apology and took to Twitter to call out her actions:

Miroslava Duma has since apologised via Instagram:

However, the street style star was promptly removed from her position as board member at children’s label, The Tot.

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.

Read more from Yahoo Style UK:

Boys, can you see yourself rocking this hairdo?

Mother of ‘unhealthy’ Victoria Beckham model speaks out amid backlash

Karl Lagerfeld switches up his legendary look for the first time in 20 years but the fashion crowd is divided