GucciGate: Fashion House’s Black Balaclava Blunder Shows Luxury Brands Are Out Of Touch

Not long ago, it was Dolce & Gabbana that provoked outrage by including a “slave sandal” in its 2016 spring/summer collection. D&G was also forced to cancel its Shanghai fashion show amid accusations of racism after posting videos of a Chinese model eating pasta and pizza with chopsticks. More recently, an attempt by Burberry to connect emotionally with Chinese consumers led to a blitz of criticism on social media, with images from the fashion house’s “modern” Chinese Lunar New Year ad campaign likened to Asian horror films. Now Gucci is in hot water for including in its autumn/winter 2018 collection an $890 polo neck jumper that covers the bottom half of the face and has a cut-out mouth with large red lips. Read more at Forbes.