Image courtesy of New York Times
A lot of fashion industry professionals are disturbed by recently released tweets from incoming Teen Vogue editor-in-chief Alexi McCammond. This series of racist tweets were posted in 2011 and deleted in 2019. However, these racist tweets have resurfaced and were documented in a Crossing Broad article. The racial tweets began to circulate on social media more recently in light of the #StopAsianHate movement, which grew from recent racist attacks against Asian Americans.
Last Friday, Condé Nast announced that McCammond has been hired as Editor-in-Chief of Teen Vogue. Many industry professionals—Prabal Gurung, Thessaly LaForce, Diana Tsui, Sally Holmes, BryanBoy, Kahlana Barfield Brown, and others—have expressed concern about McCammond’s appointment, reposting Diana Tsui’s tweets about McCammond’s appointment on their own social media platforms. Tsui in her tweets questioned why Teen Vogue, a publication known for its diversity, would hire someone with known anti-Asian sentiments, as expressed in her 2011 tweets.
Comments on Tsui and Diet Prada’s tweets continue to question McCammond’s appointment and are calling for additional apologies to the Asian American community by McCammond.
Tina Craig of bagsnob.com comments, “Who we were as teens may not reflect who we are today, but it’s her response to critics (now, as an adult) that has caused concern. And if she is to helm one of the most widely read teen magazines in the world, she needs to lead by example: Apologize and acknowledge the blatantly racist tweets, not dismiss them as merely being ‘insensitive.”
McCammond has made her social media accounts private and Teen Vogue nor Condé Nast has commented publicly.
Image courtesy of underarmour.com
Bye, bye Misty
Ballerina Misty Copeland will no longer be a brand ambassador for Under Armour. Under Armour has ended their relationship.
American Ballet Theatre principal dancer Misty Copeland served as a brand ambassador for Under Armour for the past six years, starring in commercials and videos for the athleticwear brand. In 2018 Copeland even had her own signature apparel line. And in 2017, Copeland was a part of one of several ambassadors featured in Under Armour’s “Unlike Any” campaign, which celebrated the achievements of women athletes without considering gender comparisons.
“We’ve watched her career take off and witnessed what an inspiration she is as a world-class athlete, setting an example for women—and all athletes—around the world striving to achieve their goals,” Under Armour said in an email statement. “We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished together during our partnership, and incredibly grateful to Misty for helping us evolve beyond traditional sports and into new arenas. We wish Misty the very best and look forward to seeing what else she will accomplish, both professionally and personally.”
This end of contract with Copeland is one in a string of contracts that the Baltimore-based athletic brand has cancelled in the past few months. Under Armour in February cancelled its $280 million, 15-year contract with UCLA, which it signed in 2016. Under Armour also cancelled its on-field licensing contract with the NFL in February.
Image courtesy of Alexander Wang
Alexander Wang speaks, finally
Alexander Wang is back in the news. Wang has finally issued a statement about his sexual misconduct allegations.
Since the model’s allegations came out in November 2020, Wang has remained mostly silent. Recently, the 37-year-old designer released an apology on his Instagram page.
In the apology, Wang expresses regret at any harm he may caused to the models and supports the rights of the models who have come forward. He also contends that moving forward “he will do better.”
In response to the 11 models’ allegations that Wang demonstrated sexually inappropriate behavior, Wang released a statement in January stating that the allegations were “baseless and grotesquely false accusations.”
The New York Times reports that Wang has hired two attorneys, Eric M. George and Andrew B. Brettler, to represent him. And until mid-February comments on the brand’s social media accounts had been disabled.
The 11 male models that have accused Wang of sexual misconduct are being represented by Civil Rights Attorney Lisa Bloom. Since these sexual allegations surfaced, Wang has been mostly absent from the public eye. He has been quietly running his namesake fashion brand.
Image courtesy of facebook.com
DVF Link is eliminated
Like many fashion brands, Diane von Furstenberg (DVF) is attempting to re-organize her brand because of the COVID-19 pandemic had established DVF Link online rental subscription service. This new offering from DVF was launched February of 2020 and was an attempt into the tap into the growing popularity of fashion rental platforms. DVF Link was implemented by forming a partnership with management company CaaStle.
“While DVF is an advocate of the subscription model and truly valued our partnership with CaaStle, we deactivated DVF Link as part of the strategy to streamline our operation. Our goal is to focus on the management of intellectual properties and launch of a new dvf.com,” explained a company spokesperson.
“As we evolve DVF from a traditional retail operation to a digital business, we are prioritizing our resources. The new DVF will feature a tighter edit of products via a new ecommerce platform and a global community of InCharge women,” added the DVF spokesperson, referencing the title of the female leadership-focused podcast hosted by the house’s eponymous founder, as reported in fashionnetwork.com.
William S. Gooch
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