Fashion label Burberry apologizes for 'suicide' hoodie
Fashion label Burberry has received online backlash after unveiling a hoodie with a rope tied around its neck like a noose.
The company’s CEO has apologized for the “distress” caused by the design and removed the look from Burberry’s collection.
Model Liz Kennedy publicized the issue in a damning Instagram post this week.
Burberry apologized after a hoodie with ropes resembling a noose was featured in a catwalk event at London Fashion Week.
"We are deeply sorry for the distress caused by one of the products that featured in our A/W 2019 runway collection," Marco Gobbetti, Burberry's CEO, said in a statement published by multiple media outlets.
"Though the design was inspired by the marine theme that ran throughout the collection, it was insensitive and we made a mistake."
The hoodie was one of the items unveiled in the Tempest collection in a show presented by Burberry's Chief Creative Officer Riccardo Tisci on Sunday. It has since been removed from the collection.
Criticism from Liz Kennedy — one of the British fashion house's own models — led to online backlash. Kennedy blasted the brand in an Instagram post this week, saying that "suicide is not fashion."
"Riccardo Tisci and everyone at Burberry it is beyond me how you could let a look resembling a noose hanging from a neck out on the runway," she said. "How could anyone overlook this and think it would be okay to do this especially in a line dedicated to young girls and youth."
A spokesperson for Burberry was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.
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