LBS Opinion: You Can’t Air Quote Away Appropriation Marc Jacobs

 

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Racism does not merely present itself in cases of blatant hatred. It is the airline employee who assumes you’re not in first class, the coworker who’s compelled to tell you how “well you speak”, and the fashion designer who refuses to acknowledge your culture within his vision.

Recently Marc Jacobs sent models down the runway sporting faux-locks in shades of pastel. Models included the “it-girl” models of the moment but very few women of color. When asked by New York Magazine’s “The Cut” how he was inspired by the Rastafarian culture from which locks originate, he replied that he was not. Some media outlets cited his inspiration as a return to “raver culture”. Where did these ravers get their initial inspiration from? They neglected to say.

Read more about the reception to Jacob’s spring presentation below:

 

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The public outcry in response to this was swift and loud with many voicing that it was inappropriate for Jacobs to borrow from black culture without even acknowledging that he was doing so, let alone hiring more models of color who could have easily altered their existing locks to reflect the look that the designer was going for.

With confusion around the actual definition of terms like “cultural appropriation”, it is understandable that Jacobs did not consider what he was doing to be offensive. His response to the controversy however was not acceptable – in any way.

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In the interest of full disclosure I should tell you that Jacobs has been a personal favorite of mine since before I clamored over his sweatpants-clad strut on MTV’s reality series “The Hills“. I have often remarked to family and friends that I want to be buried in a look from Marc Jacobs. I sung the praises of his 2010 and 2011 collections to anyone that would listen, and I literally wept when rumors swirled about him leaving Louis Vuitton. So I was particularly disappointed when The Shade Room, CNN, and other sites posted the following comments said by the designer on his Instagram page.

 

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And all who cry ‘cultural appropriation’ or whatever nonsense about any race of skin color wearing their hair in a particular style or manner – funny how you don’t criticize women of color for straightening their hair.

Setting aside the absurdity of his comments (anyone with half a brain should know that black women are capable of being born with straight hair the same way white women can have kinks, curls, and coils), the spirit in which these comments were released is what is most deeply insulting.

Black women, including myself, purchase so much of Marc Jacobs’ products from his overpriced gel eyeliner to his $400 handbags, and while fashion is a marriage of art, storytelling, and fantasy, it is also a business. This is not merely about political correctness, it’s about courtesy and customer service. You can’t take our money and mock our feelings – period.

As Black women, we have been marginalized and judged for physical features like big lips and big butts and styles like big earrings and cornrows, only to find our #blackgirlmagic celebrated on major magazine covers and placed in Puma commercials after it’s been “discovered”  by the mainstream.

But while the siphoning of our culture is nothing new, the consequences that accompany them are. We are no longer living in a time where designers dictate our choices. Social responsibility has gone from the social media streets to the cash registers, and now we are paying very close attention. Someone must have pointed that out to Jacobs, who logged back in to clear up his controversial comments and “the lack of sensitivity unintentionally expressed” by them.  After firmly asserting his belief in freedom of speech he finally admitted that he does “see color” but does “not discriminate” ending by beseeching kindness from his critics and stating that “nothing is gained from spreading hate by name calling and bullying”.  

Unlike the public apology from Fashion Police co-host Giuliana Ranic regarding her comments on Zendaya’s look on the red carpet of the 2015 Academy Awards where she labeled the incident “a learning experience” and accepted responsibility for her unintentional bias, Marc Jacobs’ apology seethed with condescension.

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No matter my reverence for his talent, I can not ignore Jacob’s willful ignorance about cultural appropriation. Not knowing how people feel is one thing, not wanting to know is quite another. Justifications and half-baked soundbites won’t change anything. Black women are not just nameless, faceless, “people on the internet”, we are an economic force to be reckoned with. I wouldn’t patronize a gas station or restaurant where I felt my concerns were belittled and I won’t do it with a fashion designer either. In 2016, there are too many choices for me to decide where I spend my hard-earned money. I refuse to do it with someone who feels it appropriate to air quote away concerns about cultural appropriation.

What do you think about Jacob’s comments? Are you still planning on rocking his fashions?

Photo Credits: Elle, New York Magazine, CNN

2 Comments
  1. Calling all fashion designers

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  2. Just saying no to buying anything new. And probably going to sell my MJ bag. Haven’t decided what I will do with my Honey rollerball.