Jerry Lorenzo on Gucci’s Blackface Controversy: ‘You Gotta Be Conscious of History’
Written by SOURCE on February 10, 2019
Jerry Lorenzo isn’t a fan of Gucci’s recent controversial “Balaclava” sweater, a turtleneck that has a design resembling blackface.
The fashion designer spoke with TMZ and said he would “never wear that” item. He then compared the situation to a popular scene from the 1995 film Casino, where a character has to fire a family member’s friend for stealing.
“Either the employee is too dumb and he’s getting stolen from, or he’s in on it.” He continued, “It’s like Gucci, either you just aren’t conscious of the climate or you’re in on it. Either way is unacceptable.… You gotta be conscious of history.”
However, he thinks the brand will recover: “It’s gonna blow up for two days and a week from now, everybody’s gonna forget about it.”
Over the last couple days, Spike Lee, T.I., and Soulja Boy have all called for boycotts of Gucci. Lee said he will no longer wear Prada or Gucci until the fashion houses “hire some black designers.”
Following the sweater’s release, Gucci issued an apology and pulled the sweater from their online and in-store inventory. “We are fully committed to increasing diversity throughout our organization and turning this incident into a powerful learning moment for the Gucci team and beyond,” the brand’s statement read.
