Prada has eliminated certain accessories from stock following accusations that figurines and other merchandise perpetuate blackface imagery.
The Italian label faced backlash after their world-renown Upper Manhattan shop showcased the purse above in its window with a Monkey/Sambo-like doll attached.
The figurines and $550 keychains, part of Prada’s Pradamalia line, featured dark black faces and over-sized red lips, which Ezie said were reminiscent of the racist images and dehumanizing caricatures of black people that appeared in American theater and literature beginning in the 19th century.
In Prada’s statement announcing the company’s decision to pull the products, it describes the items as “fantasy charms” and added they weren’t intended to be offensive.
“Prada Group abhors racist imagery. The Pradamalia are fantasy charms composed of elements of the Prada oeuvre. They are imaginary creatures not intended to have any reference to the real world and certainly not blackface,” a Prada Group spokesperson said in a statement. “Prada Group never had the intention of offending anyone and we abhor all forms of racism and racist imagery. In this interest we will withdraw the characters in question from display and circulation.”
Fisher Jack