Forever 21, a funky retailer, has recently come under fire for offering several Compton/N.W.A.-esque T-shirt options. While I personally think the T-shirts are cute and I’d like to buy one, several people took to Twitter to voice their disdain in the T-shirts that are heavily laced in Black culture. The shirts have since been omitted from the site and the tweet introducing the shirts has also been deleted. When you try to Google search the shirts, you get this:
I am no fashion expert, but I’ve seen an influx of several Hip-Hop related threads–from Biggie Smalls T-shirts to Tupac dresses, retailers are capitalizing on Hip-Hop culture. Most of the tweets complaining about the T-shirts referred to the White models who were photographed in the controversial site. I wonder if people would be offended if it was a Black model showing off the Compton Tees? Honestly, the N.W.A. T-shirt is a bit jarring because I know that the “N” stands for. The racial line was crossed here.
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Clearly, this isn’t the first time clothing has ruffled feathers and it certainly won’t be the last, as fashion is constantly pushing the envelope and challenging the status quo.
Check out these other offensive fashion faux pas:
Urban Outfitter’s “Eat Less” Tee
Adidas Shackle Sneakers
