Burberry apologises for 'suicide' hoodie with noose around the neck
Burberry has apologised for showcasing a hoodie that featured a noose around the neck at London Fashion Week.
Model Liz Kennedy criticised the British fashion brand in a long post on Instagram in which she said: "Suicide is not fashion".
She said the noose evoked the "horrifying history of lynching" and questioned how the brand and its creative director Riccardo Tisci "could let a look resembling a noose hanging from a neck out on the runway".
The hoodie was in the brand's autumn-winter 2019 catwalk show on Sunday when a model wore the garment with the noose dangling from the neck.
Following the social media uproar, Burberry said it was "deeply sorry for the distress" the design had caused and removed it from its collection.
Tisci also apologised, saying "while the design was inspired by a nautical theme, I realise that it was insensitive".
Ms Kennedy, who had been hired to walk in the show, prompted dozens of negative social media comments directed at Burberry and Tisci on her Instagram post, which featured a picture of the noose.
She wrote: "It is not glamorous nor edgy and since this show is dedicated to the youth expressing their voice, here I go.
"There are hundreds of ways to tie a rope and they chose to tie it like a noose completely ignoring the fact that it was hanging around a neck.
"A massive brand like Burberry who is typically considered commercial and classy should not have overlooked such an obvious resemblance."
The model said people backstage had briefly hung one of the nooses from the ceiling to try and figure out the knot "and were laughing about it".
Ms Kennedy also said the noose left her feeling "extremely triggered" after dealing with suicide in her family, and said she was told to write a letter when she complained.
In response, one person commented on the post: "Who's bright idea (NOT) was this? Massive mistake".
Another said: "I admire you for taking the stand on what is right."
The collection, called "Tempest", is Tisci's second for the brand after he succeeded Christopher Bailey in 2018. He was previously creative director for Givenchy.
Burberry CEO Marco Gobbetti said he called Ms Kennedy to apologise as soon as he became aware of her concerns on Monday.
"The experience Ms Kennedy describes does not reflect who we are and our values. We will reflect on this, learn from it and put in place all necessary actions to ensure it does not happen again," he said.
The error comes after Gucci removed a sweater from the market last week after complaints that the oversized collar designed to cover the face resembled blackface makeup.
Last week, Katy Perry was forced to apologise and remove two shoe designs from her shoe collection which evoked racist imagery.
In December, Prada removed a series of accessories that included black monkeys with red lips following complaints.
