Dolce & Gabbana’s Slave Sandals backfires
Dolce & Gabbana’s Slave Sandals backfires
Dolce & Gabbana, the Italian brand, is in the soup once again. This time, it is for selling slave sandals. Time and again, the fashion brand has been labelled as racist for its insensitive depiction of cultural diversity from across the world like exploitative earrings portraying African women from slave era, Asian catwalk models, representing ‘tourists who have just arrived in Italy’ in their SS16 catwalk show.
The sandal was available for pre-order on the Dolce & Gabbana website for US $2,395 where the tag line read: ‘Slave Sandal in Napa Leather with Pompoms’. Such inappropriate use of words was taken seriously by the social media that went on a rampage, ranting about the Dolce & Gabbana’s recent slip-up. The shoe is a flat and vibrant sandal, beautifully adorned with pompoms, mirrors and crystals and is priced at £1350 and featured in its spring 2016 collection, and described it as ‘a declaration of love to Italy.’
.@dolcegabbana Just wondering what possessed you to name your latest summer sandals “The Slave Sandal”? Wow.
— Strategic Comms Girl (@FlackInTheCity) March 3, 2016
After witnessing the public angst on social media platforms, however, Dolce & Gabbana amended its mistake and changed the description from Slave Sandal in Napa Leather with Pompoms to Decorative Flat Sandal.
That’s a “slave sandal”? It looks like a tragic accident between some craft materials and a hot glue gun. https://t.co/SLvBYiYlq0
— Pinky Slivotitz™ (@ACreativeMuggle) March 4, 2016
Evidently, the term ‘slave’ was once considered as a common name for lace-up sandals, but it later got replaced by word ‘gladiator’ in fashion circles.
Courtesy: img.huffingtonpost.com