The UK retail giant ASOS is catching heat for selling a "racist" T-shirt on its website. Many people aren't happy that the questionable design by Liverpool streetwear label Wasted Heroes that has the word "slave" across the front and is being worn by a black model. The controversial image was listed in the ASOS Marketplace, which is it's sister boutique for independent sellers.
Of course, people quickly took to social media to call out the company for allowing the offensive item on its site.
The ASOS customer queries twitter account responded to complaints, saying that it was taking down the item from its site and investigating the seller. A spokesperson also issued the following statement to The Tab: "Marketplace is a collection of independent sellers who must agree to our terms and conditions when they join. Whenever we find product that violates our policies we remove it immediately. There is also a 'report this item' link under every product picture."
Wasted Heros also issued an apology via Twitter, explaining that the term was intended to mean being a slave to fashion. The shirt is still available on its website.
Even if the brand didn't intend for the shirt to be racist, this is just another example of fashion's ongoing problem with being culturally insensitive and like previous cases, this could have been avoided if someone had just given this a little thought.
