Gucci is under fire yet again for another controversial design
Gucci is once again in hot water for cultural appropriation.
Gucci Autumn/Winter 2018 Getty
The luxury Italian fashion house is under fire for selling a turban from the brand’s autumn/winter ‘18 collection, called the "Indy Full Turban" -- a design that looks almost identical to the traditional headwear worn by Sikhs.
Available in an array of colours, it retailed at luxury American department store Nordstrom, for a whopping $1,146.
But it’s not the lavish price point that is gaining more wrath than wows, rather Gucci’s failure to grasp the turban’s cultural significance and trivialisation of a garment associated with sacred religious views.
“The Sikh turban is not just a fashion accessory, but it’s also a sacred religious article of faith,” the Sikh Coalition tweeted.
“We hope more can be done to recognise this critical context.”
The turban has also prompted fierce backlash on social media, with users accusing the luxury brand of being disrespectful and ignorant towards other cultures.
“As a Sikh, I see this as a huge sign of disrespect and disregard toward Sikhism,” tweeted one user.
“Dear Gucci, the Sikh turban is not a hot new accessory for white models but an article of faith for practising Sikhs. Your models have used turbans as ‘hats’, whereas practising Sikhs tie them neatly fold-by-fold. Using fake Sikhs/turbans is worse than selling fake Gucci products.” commented another.
Nordstrom has since marked the product as “sold out” on its official website and the $1,146 price tag is longer visible on the product’s page. The department store responded to the controversy via Twitter, stating it was never their intention to "disrespect this religious and cultural symbol".
Gucci have yet to make an official statement about the backlash.
Gucci Autumn/Winter 2018 Getty
The turban originally made its runway debt in February 2018 at Gucci’s autumn/winter show at Milan Fashion Week. The exact same show that also featured a wool sweater that resembled "blackface", an item which received severe backlash and was pulled from Gucci’s stores and online.
