Louis Vuitton faces backlash for its $705 ‘keffiyeh-inspired’ scarf
French luxury house Louis Vuitton is in hot water for one of its latest men’s scarves.
On its US website, the label offers a blue, jacquard-woven stole decorated with both the Vuitton monogram design and the distinctive checked pattern of the traditional keffiyeh. The scarf is priced at $705.
Louis Vuitton describes the scarf on its website as being “inspired by the classic keffiyeh and enriched with House signatures". The company says that the scarf, made from wool, cotton and silk, is lightweight and soft, and that it “creates an easygoing mood".
The backlash has been swift, however, with the industry watchdog Instagram account Diet Prada calling out Vuitton for the product, placing an image from Vuitton’s website alongside the Wikipedia definition of the keffiyeh.
The pattern is used as a traditional headscarf in the region, often worn by Arab men. It’s also regarded as a symbol of Palestinian nationalism, and solidarity with the Palestinian cause.
At the time of writing, the scarf in question was available on Louis Vuitton’s US website, but not the UAE site.
With 2.7 million followers, Diet Prada regularly highlights issues of plagiarism, racism, sexual misconduct and cultural appropriation within the fashion industry, demanding high-profile figures, designers and brands take responsibility, apologise and, where appropriate, pay reparations.
What started as a small account in 2014 has grown to a serious fact-checker of the industry, and has been involved in many high-profile spats with major fashion brands.
This is not the first time Louis Vuitton has been called out. In February, it released the Jamaican Stripe Jumper , in homage to the Jamaican flag, but in the wrong colours.
Further down the fashion food chain, this week high-street stores Zara and Anthropologie faced claims of cultural appropriation for using traditional Mexican motifs.
Louis Vuitton blasted for ‘disgraceful’ keffiyeh with Israel flag colours
Worn throughout the Middle East region as a traditional Arabian headdress, the thick black and white chequered cloth or keffiyeh has become a symbol of resistance and solidarity in the Arab countries, particularly in Palestine. Signifying the Palestinian quest for self-determination, nationalism and struggle against the occupation of their land by Israel, the keffiyeh garnered widespread popularity courtesy Nobel Peace Prize awardee Yasser Arafat, then leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation or PLO, who wore it as the political symbol of resistance against the Israeli occupation and violence since 1948.
Traditionally, keffiyeh is folded diagonally into a triangle and worn draped over the head of rural Palestinian men as a turban or held in place with a circlet of rope called an agal and it rose to popularity further as Kanye West and David Beckham wore it to music festivals or shoots which inspired several high-end and high-street brands. Apart from also being seen loosely draped around the shoulder or fashioned around the necks, especially in recent cases when soccer players from all around the globe took their solidarity straight to the football pitch alarmed by the bloodshed and destruction in Gaza last month, catwalk star Gigi Hadid too was seen wearing it at pro-Palestinian march in Canada.
Bella Hadid & Gigi Hadid being vocal about every time Palestine under attack, they being outspoken. We need more celebrities like them! The world needs them, as good support. #FreePalestine❤💚 🇵🇸 pic.twitter.com/bKyw7gqt8J — Ubaidur Rahman (@Ubaid4R) May 16, 2021
French fashion house and luxury goods company, Louis Vuitton, raked up a controversy as it recently released a new Monogram Keffieh stole which is inspired by the classic Keffieh. Enriched with House signatures, a jacquard weave technique is used to create the intricate Monogram patterns on its base of blended cotton, wool and silk while its soft and lightweight with fringed edges makes the timeless accessory create an easygoing mood.
If the whopping price of the keffieh, that is $700, was not enough to spark a widespread outrage, its change of colours from thick black and white to blue and white which is also the colour of Israel’s flag, drew massive flak. Taking to their respective Twitter handles, the netizens blasted LVMH for cultural appropriation.
It soon gave birth to memes that carried the infamous explanation “if i don’t steal it someone else will”, by an Israeli settler who recently went viral for trying to take over a Palestinian’s house illegally. While one accused, “profiting off the oppressed people of Palestine is beyond disgraceful @LouisVuitton why don’t you speak up about the genocide & ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people (sic),” another tweeted, “@LouisVuitton is politically neutral when it comes to Palestine & Israel, but they’re totally cool w/ making money off the keffiyeh. There better be plans on donating the proceeds to Palestinian victims (sic).”
Check out Twitter’s reaction on Louis Vuitton’s new keffiyeh here:
@LouisVuitton is politically neutral when it comes to Palestine & Israel, but they’re totally cool w/ making money off the keffiyeh.
There better be plans on donating the proceeds to Palestinian victims. pic.twitter.com/vLbH1iEPO3 — Nancy 🖤 نانسي (@tdesignerwth) June 1, 2021
Where there is 💰 involved Culture and Religion are of No consequence to these people selling the Keffiyeh as per Louis Vuitton has done !
It is yet another slap in the face to the Palestinian 🇵🇸 people by Israeli and their Supporters !
👣🐾🐨✊🌿🌳🌏 https://t.co/cskpKJzVLs — lucaDiGiorgio 🐨 ✊ Save the Planet 🌍Anti LNP. (@lucaDiGiorgio9) June 2, 2021
@LouisVuitton @virgilabloh Selling a keffiyeh in Israeli colors with a white model is like selling a du rag with a confederate flag for $700 and using a white model to sell it. I’m shook at the sheer audacity. All proceeds should go to #Palestinians who have lost homes and lives. pic.twitter.com/HICaJbm9bS — Regina Victor (@OfficialReginaV) June 2, 2021
@LouisVuitton It is so disrespectful to sell the symbol of Palestinian culture, the keffiyeh for a ridiculous amount of $705, without acknowledging that it belongs to Palestinian culture. At least acknowledge the Palestinian people and their struggle. Talk about appropriation. — . (@pastastromboli1) June 2, 2021
This is however, not the first time that a fashion brand has been called out for cultural appropriation. In 2016, Israeli brand Dodo Bar Or triggered a public outcry for using the keffiyeh fabric to make “sexy dresses, flouncy skirts, hippy draping gowns”. Cultural appropriation is controversial when members of a dominant culture appropriate from minority cultures without any benefit to them.
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