Prada withdraws luxury trinkets over blackface controversy

Advertisement

Advertise with us

NEW YORK - Prada is no longer selling a line of accessories and displays following complaints that they featured blackface-style imagery.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/12/2018 (2794 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NEW YORK – Prada is no longer selling a line of accessories and displays following complaints that they featured blackface-style imagery.

The controversy began last week when a New Yorker complained in a viral Facebook posting after walking past a Prada boutique in Manhattan’s SoHo district and noticing what she described as a “racist and denigrating” caricature in the storefront.

The Italian fashion house had recently launched a series of luxury keychains and trinkets, including one showing a character with brown skin and exaggerated red lips.

Prada Group released a statement saying that it “abhors all forms of racism” and that the imaginary creatures were not intended to “have any reference to the real world and certainly not blackface.”

The statement said it was withdrawing the characters in question from display and circulation.

Report Error Submit a Tip

More Stories

Moving rail lines outside city would make Winnipeg ‘major transportation hub’

Carol Sanders 5 minute read Preview

Moving rail lines outside city would make Winnipeg ‘major transportation hub’

Carol Sanders 5 minute read Updated: 6:39 PM CDT

After decades of calls to move rail traffic to the outskirts of Winnipeg, a plan that would benefit residents, railways and taxpayers is now on track, says the former Winnipegger leading the way.

A rail line bypass south of the city, using Crown-owned land and the Manitoba Hydro corridor, would take 20 years to complete, remove 120 railway crossings that are a safety risk and free up about 250 acres of Winnipeg land over time for development, Lloyd Axworthy said Wednesday.

“The visions that we have have to be implemented,” Axworthy said at a news conference announcing the launch of a 90-day feasibility study to move freight rail traffic out of Winnipeg’s urban core along Manitoba Hydro’s southern transmission corridor, connecting east to west along the Perimeter Highway.

The former federal transport minister and Manitoba MP was tasked by Premier Wab Kinew in October 2024 to lead a two-year rail relocation feasibility study.

Read
Updated: 6:39 PM CDT

‘Exciting news’ on rail relocation coming

Carol Sanders 4 minute read Preview

‘Exciting news’ on rail relocation coming

Carol Sanders 4 minute read Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT

Premier Wab Kinew is expected to make an announcement concerning long-awaited Winnipeg rail relocation later this week.

Former federal transport minister and Manitoba MP Lloyd Axworthy, who Kinew tasked in October 2024 with leading a two-year rail relocation feasibility study, confirmed there would be an announcement Wednesday.

“We’ve had this rail study group which I’ve chaired and we’ve been responsible for developing recommendations,” Axworthy said Monday.

The longtime champion for Winnipeg rail relocation, who is vacationing at his cottage on Lake Winnipeg, deferred to the premier’s office for information, but confirmed he will attend Wednesday’s news conference.

Read
Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT

Student union coalition scrutinized, accused of providing minimal benefit for fees paid

Maggie Macintosh 5 minute read Preview

Student union coalition scrutinized, accused of providing minimal benefit for fees paid

Maggie Macintosh 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 8:36 AM CDT

Despite being labelled as “permanently closed” online and maintaining a website filled with outdated information, a coalition of student unions is defending itself as an active entity deserving of fees in spite of its low profile.

The Canadian Federation of Students and its local chapter, better known as CFS-MB, collect annual membership dues from campuses across the province to support their advocacy work.

Alan Saji Koshy’s advice to new and returning students to the University of Winnipeg? “Start asking questions.”

“We pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for practically no benefit and students don’t even know (CFS-MB resources) exist,” the recent graduate and former student association president said.

Read
Updated: Yesterday at 8:36 AM CDT

A Winnipeg home with a mountain view? You won’t find a real one, but AI-generated visual suggests otherwise

Gabrielle Piché 6 minute read Preview

A Winnipeg home with a mountain view? You won’t find a real one, but AI-generated visual suggests otherwise

Gabrielle Piché 6 minute read Yesterday at 6:03 PM CDT

Manitoba’s mountain range peeked out behind a Scotia Street home.

At least, it did in a photo attached to a real estate listing for 232 Scotia St. in Winnipeg’s (flat) Seven Oaks neighbourhood.

Another picture — now removed — showed a cartoon cityscape viewable from the bungalow’s front porch.

Both photos had tags in their bottom left corners: “AI-generated content.”

Read
Yesterday at 6:03 PM CDT

Ridesharing platform lets people connect with local drivers with trucks, cargo vans

Aaron Epp 4 minute read Preview

Ridesharing platform lets people connect with local drivers with trucks, cargo vans

Aaron Epp 4 minute read 5:54 PM CDT

Want to transport something big but you don’t have a buddy with a truck? Log on to Truckbud.

Winnipeg entrepreneur Praise Odutayo launched the ridesharing platform in November. People who need to move large items can connect with vetted local drivers who have trucks or cargo vans for same-day delivery. Requesting a driver takes about 60 seconds, and users get real-time updates from pickup to drop-off.

Odutayo says he built Truckbud to solve a simple but common challenge: many people don’t own a truck or van, yet regularly need to move items that won’t fit in a car.

“Truckbud is making large-item transportation more accessible, affordable and convenient, while creating flexible earning opportunities within the community,” said Odutayo, 24.

Read
5:54 PM CDT

Teen in former police vehicle menaces car enthusiasts’ event, earns home visit, warning from police

Morgan Modjeski 3 minute read Preview

Teen in former police vehicle menaces car enthusiasts’ event, earns home visit, warning from police

Morgan Modjeski 3 minute read 5:00 PM CDT

A 17-year-old who attached red and blue flashing lights to the back window of a former police vehicle Sunday night got a visit from real city officers Monday who gave him a warning, as well as a $174 ticket for having illegally tinted windows.

The Winnipeg Police Service was advised on Monday of a video circulating online that showed a white Ford Explorer with the flashing in its rear window in a parking lot on Sage Creek Boulevard Sunday night.

Investigators were able to identify the vehicle’s owner.

The teen said he did it on a dare from his friends.

Read
5:00 PM CDT