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.
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.
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:
[1/2] #Prada Group abhors racist imagery. The Pradamalia are fantasy charms composed of elements of the Prada oeuvre. They are imaginary creatures not intended to have any reference to the real world and certainly not blackface.
— PRADA (@Prada) December 14, 2018
[2/] #Prada Group never had the intention of offending anyone and we abhor all forms of racism and racist imagery. In this interest we will withdraw the characters in question from display and circulation.
— PRADA (@Prada) December 14, 2018
Clearly there aren’t any Black people involved in Prada’s decision-making whatsoever.
