Vogue Italia has come under fire for a controversial article covering “slave earrings” as fashion accessories.
The fashion magazine’s Italian version features a controversial article titled “Slave earrings Hoop earrings: a classic always in evolution.” The article reads:
Jewelry has always flirted with circular shapes, especially for use in making earrings. The most classic models are the slave and creole styles in gold hoops.
If the name brings to the mind the decorative traditions of the women of colour who were brought to the southern United States during the slave trade, the latest interpretation is pure freedom. Source
Furious readers have taken to social networking websites to voice their displeasure about the article’s wording which is surely designed to bait and inflame its African readers.
This latest furor about insensitivity in marketing comes on the heels of a disastrous marketing campaign by body care giant Nivea which featured a black man in a magazine ad accompanied with the text “Re-civilize yourself.”
But unlike Nivea, which later apologized for its insensitivity, Vogue has yet to release a statement.
