Fashion Institute of Technology apologizes after fashion show evokes controversy over racist imagery – CNN
Written by By Leah Asmelash, CNN
The Fashion Institute of Technology has apologized and placed two academic officials on leave, after its graduate fashion show used accessories that many — including a model scheduled to walk in the show — called racist.
The incident occurred earlier this month, during the school’s MFA Fashion show, featuring students from the school’s master of fine arts program in fashion design. Junkai Huang, an alumnus of the school, wanted to showcase a collection where the models wore prosthetic ears and lips and bushy eyebrows.
But one model, Amy LeFevre, refused to wear the items, calling them racist. She walked down the runway without them. CNN reached out via phone and email to LeFevre’s agency but did not immediately receive a response.
The incident was immediately criticized on social media and elsewhere. Diet Prada, a fashion industry watchdog, said on Instagram: “It shouldn’t be down to the models to have to refuse wearing blatantly racist accessories on the runway, especially not in a show thrown by an institution like @fitnyc.”
Joyce F. Brown, president of FIT, released an initial statement Tuesday, writing that while the original intent of the collection was not race-related, “it is now glaringly obvious that has been the outcome.”
“For that, we apologize — to those who participated in the show, to students, and to anybody who has been offended by what they saw,” she wrote. “Let me be clear: no person should be made to feel uncomfortable — particularly about race — in service of their work, job, livelihood, or course of study.”
On Friday, Brown released an updated statement. In it, she writes that the school has commissioned an independent investigation of itself and reiterated that Huang, the student, is not to blame for the misunderstanding.
Another model sporting the look. Credit: Bennett Raglin/Getty Images for Fashion Institute Of Technology
“The styling and accessorizing used in the show were provided to him rather than chosen at his discretion,” she explained. “To us, this indicates that those in charge of and responsible for overseeing the show failed to recognize or anticipate the racist references and cultural insensitivities that were obvious to almost everybody else. That’s inexcusable and irresponsible — but also why we are commissioning an independent investigation.”
Both Mary Davis, dean of the School of Graduate Studies, and Jonathan Kyle Farmer, chair of the MFA Fashion Design Department, have been placed on administrative leave, Brown wrote, pending the conclusion of the investigation.
Farmer apologized in a statement posted to the department’s Instagram page, writing that he fully understands what has happened.
Model Amy LeFevre refused to wear the accessories during her turn on the runway. Credit: Bennett Raglin/Getty Images for Fashion Institute Of Technology
“I take full responsibility and am committed to learning from this situation and taking steps to do better,” the statement reads.
This isn’t the first time the fashion industry has been criticized as being racially insensitive.
Who can forget Gucci’s infamous sweater mimicking blackface, for example? Or when Kim Kardashian called her lingerie line “Kimono,” putting her at the center of a debate on cultural appropriation?
Those examples both happened in 2019, but there’s already been incidents in 2020, too, like with Comme des Garçons’ use of lace front cornrow wigs.
