How Gucci Is Trying To Recover From Its Blackface Sweater Controversy
It all turned on a tweet, as so many controversies do these days. Twitter blew a hole in Gucci’s image. When faced with the damage, the company decided it required more than just a patch. In mid-January, Gucci head Marco Bizzarri was leading a company meeting in Milan on diversity. The focus was the Changemakers program, which had launched in 2018 to support social justice issues. Bizzarri was delighted with the way things were going: “I was thinking, ‘I’m the CEO of the best diversity[-driven] company there was.’ ” Then about two weeks later, social media exploded in outrage over a Gucci sweater that critics described as evoking blackface. It was black with a high turtleneck collar that covered the lower half of the face with a cutout for the mouth that was rimmed in bright red. Some people called for a boycott of the brand. Others threatened to burn any Gucci merchandise in their own closets. Read more at The Washington Post.
