Say What Now? Prada Pulls Monkey Designs After Backlash Over Racist Imagery [Photos]

BY: Denver Sean

Published 6 years ago

Prada is in the midst of some serious damage control after the luxury brand released a bunch of racist figurines.

They were part of the Pradamalia collection and depicted a dark-colored monkey with enlarged red lips— a sambo, basically.

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via Complex:

People were quick to criticize Prada for the ill-conceived pieces, pointing out that the trinkets bore a strong resemblance to “Little Black Sambo,” a 1800s book character that perpetuated racist stereotypes and dehumanized blacks.

Chinyere Ezie, an attorney for the Center for Constitutional Rights, expressed her outrage on Facebook.

“I don’t make a lot of public posts, but right now I’m shaking with anger,” Ezie wrote, after seeing the figurines at the Prada SoHo location.

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In wake of the backlash, Prada has released a statement apologizing for the accessories and announced that they have since been pulled the items from stores.

The brand also issued the following tweets:

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Clearly there aren’t any Black people involved in Prada’s decision-making whatsoever.

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