Louis Vuitton pulls sweater inspired by the Jamaican flag for featuring incorrect colours
TORONTO – Louis Vuitton has pulled a sweater it claimed was inspired by the national flag of Jamaica after social media users pointed out that the item featured the wrong colours.
The menswear design, which retailed for more than $1,700 (£995) before being removed from Louis Vuitton’s online store, featured three wide stripes in green, yellow and red. However, the Jamaican national flag is green, yellow and black.
The sweater’s incorrect design was reportedly first called out by the fashion critic Twitter account @pam_boy.
“I cannot stress enough how important it is to implement diversity as a value and not a symbol within fashion companies,” the user tweeted along with a photo of the sweater next to the Jamaican flag for comparison.
The account pointed out that the sweater looked closer to the design of the Rastafarian flag, a religious movement with roots in Jamaica, rather than the country’s official flag.
Others were quick to take to social media to criticize the brand, accusing Louis Vuitton of using Jamaican culture to make a profit.
“So no one at Louis Vuitton googled the Jamaican flag?” Twitter user Black Women Matter wrote.
Cedella Marley, the daughter of Bob Marley, also commented on the sweater. She posted an unimpressed photo of her father on Instagram with the caption, “Bob says that’s the Ethiopian flag @Louisvuitton,” along with an embarrassed face emoji.
Louis Vuitton’s Jamaican stripe pullover & Jamaica’s actual flag.
I cannot stress enough how important it is to implement diversity as a value and not a symbol within fashion companies. pic.twitter.com/neg2W3uIE3 — @PAM_BOY (@pam_boy) February 2, 2021
When the item first appeared online, the product description reportedly said that the striped design was “inspired by Caribbean island’s national flag.” After social media users began noting the error, Louis Vuitton remove the word “flag” in the sweater’s description and swapped it with “cultural heritage," before removing the product from its website altogether.
As of Sunday, links to the sweater’s page result in a “404 page not found” error message.
Louis Vuitton told CTVNews.ca in an email on Wednesday that it “deeply” regrets the error in the description of the sweater. A spokesperson for the brand said the green, yellow and red stripes were meant to represent “the Ethiopian flag and a hallmark of African independence” to pay tribute to the Ghanaian heritage of Louis Vuitton’s creative director, Virgil Abloh.
Brian A. Richards, a contract lecturer at Ryerson University’s School of Fashion, told CTVNews.ca that fashion labels are trying to better relate to Black people and their various cultures, but make mistakes like this because their attempts at being relatable are “inauthentic.”
“One way to sort of make it authentic is to have these creators, these BIPOC individuals at the table from the point of conception,” Richards said in a telephone interview on Tuesday.
Richards noted that Louis Vuitton’s creative director, Virgil Abloh, is the son of Ghanaian parents, but said that just because Abloh is Black does not mean he knows everything about all Black cultures.
“Virgil, he’s of African descent, but he doesn’t know everything about Jamaica, and Jamaicans alternatively you don’t know everything about people from Ghana,” Richards said.
He explained that “Black people are not a monolith,” and are themselves working to understand the various cultures that are represented under the umbrella of being Black.
“The Black community has been so entangled in educating non-Black people, because that’s kind of where we’re at right now… But I would argue that the Black community has not had the opportunity to explore its own history,” Richards said.
To help address this in fashion, Richards said brands need to not only hire more Black people, but also consult and engage with the Black community on its decisions in “behind-the-scenes conversations” through marketing, public relations, and social media engagement.
This is not the first time that a luxury fashion house has produced culturally offensive items. Gucci pulled a wool sweater from its stores last year after complaints that its oversized collar resembled blackface makeup, while Burberry apologized for putting a hoodie with strings tied in the shape of a noose on its London Fashion Week runway.
Louis Vuitton slammed as ‘Jamaica’ jumper features wrong flag colours
// Louis Vuitton facing backlash for releasing a ‘Jamaica’ jumper but with the wrong flag colours
// The £995 menswear item was criticised over social media
// Louis Vuitton said it “deeply regrets the error”
Louis Vuitton has been criticised for producing a ‘Jamaican’ jumper that features the wrong flag colours.
The label’s £995 menswear item, called the Jamaican Stripe Jumper, featured three wide stripes in green, yellow and red – but the Jamaica flag features green, yellow and black.
The inaccuracy was called out on Twitter as users expressed their concerns over the lack of diversity within teams in fashion houses.
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Louis Vuitton’s Jamaican stripe pullover & Jamaica’s actual flag. I cannot stress enough how important it is to implement diversity as a value and not a symbol within fashion companies. pic.twitter.com/neg2W3uIE3 — @PAM_BOY (@pam_boy) February 2, 2021
The item has since been removed from the official Louis Vuitton website, with a “404 page not found” error message found instead.
When the item first appeared online, the product description read: “With striped design inspired by Caribbean island’s national flag.”
After updating the description of the jumper to remove the word “flag” and swap it with “cultural heritage”, the product was removed.
Many Twitter users have commented that this points to the need for more retailers to work at every level in order to battle structural racism.
This isn’t the first time that luxury fashion has launched a controversial item. Gucci released a blackface jumper in 2019 and has since issued an apology “for the offence caused”, while Burberry came under fire for showcasing a hoodie with a noose during London Fashion Week in 2019.
Louis Vuitton responded by saying it “deeply regrets the error”. It added that the sweater is from the spring-summer 2021 men’s collection, throughout which green, yellow and red, the colours of the Ethiopian flag and a hallmark of African independence, were used.
Twitter users pointed out that the pullover appeared to draw inspiration from the Rastafarian flag, which refers to the religious movement often symbolized by green, yellow, and red.
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Louis Vuitton ‘Jamaica jumper’ features wrong flag colours
Louis Vuitton has been criticised for producing a jumper that pays tribute to the flag of Jamaica – but in the wrong colours.
The label’s £995 menswear item, called the Jamaican Stripe Jumper online, featured three wide stripes in green, yellow and red. But the flag of Jamaica is green, yellow and black.
The error was called out online, with @pam_boy tweeting: “I cannot stress enough how important it is to implement diversity as a value and not a symbol within fashion companies.”
Others were quick to point out that the jumper appeared to be inspired by the Rastafarian flag (which featured the Lion of Judah at its centre), the religious movement with its roots in Jamaica, instead of the official Jamaican flag.
“So no one at Louis Vuitton googled the Jamaican flag?” asked Twitter user Black Women Matter.
Cedella, the daughter of Bob and Rita Marley, also commented, posting on Instagram: “Bob says that’s the Ethiopian flag @Louisvuitton”, with an embarrassed face emoji, beneath a photo of Marley looking displeased.
When the item first appeared online, the product description read: “With striped design inspired by Caribbean island’s national flag.” After updating the description of the jumper to remove the word “flag” and swap it with “cultural heritage”, the product was pulled from the official Vuitton website. Clicking on the link, you now get a “404 page not found” error message.
“Traditional Rastafari symbols and imagery have been popularised and used extensively in commercial products, ranging from T-shirts, jewellery, arts and crafts items, smoking paraphernalia, hats, clothes, bags and shoes,” wrote Jamaican attorney Marcus Goffe in 2011. “Very few of these products are made by Rastafarians and none of the monies accrued from their sales benefits the Rastafarian community.”
Louis Vuitton’s creative director, Virgil Abloh, who is the son of Ghanaian parents (the colours of the Ghanaian flag are green, golden yellow and red), has previously done a sneaker collaboration with Jamaican skateboarder Lucien Clarke.
Luxury fashion has got into trouble before for producing culturally offensive items, such as Gucci’s blackface jumper and Burberry’s noose hoodie. Last year, Comme des Garçons sent white models down their menswear runway wearing dreadlock wigs.
Many have commented online that this points to the need for having more diverse teams at fashion houses, working at every level in order to battle structural racism and avoid issues like the Louis Vuitton one happening again.
In a statement, Louis Vuitton told the Guardian: “We deeply regret the error in the description on our e-commerce site and we have corrected the information. The sweater is from the spring-summer 2021 men’s collection, throughout which green, yellow and red, the colors of the Ethiopian flag and a hallmark of African independence, were used, including to pay tribute to the Ghanaian heritage of our menswear designer Virgil Abloh.”