Fashion insiders keep screwing up.
Vogue Brazil's style director was forced to resign this week after photos from her 50th birthday party were criticized for being racist and romanticizing colonialism. Earlier this month, pictures of Donata Meirelles' dinner party began circulating on the internet. The images showed the director and her guests sitting on an ornate chair as black women stood on the side. The women were wearing white uniforms that were similar to those worn by Brazilian slaves during colonial times.
Shelby Ivey Christie, a marketing manager and former digital sales planner at American Vogue, tweeted the party appeared to have a "slave + master theme." She called the celebration "disgusting" and used historical context to highlight problematic elements of the party.
Vogue Brazil confirmed Meirelles' resignation this week, and credited the former director for help making the magazine "a major global force."
"With her unique sense of style, which captures the dynamism and joie de vivre of the Brazilian woman as nobody else does, Donata gave new energy to the magazine," the publication said in a statement to CNN. "We understand and respect her resignation and will be eternally grateful for all the passion and talent she has dedicated to every page she has edited."
Meirelles has apologized, but insisted the photos were taken out of context.
"It wasn't a theme party," she said, "[...] but if it looked otherwise, I'm sorry."
Meirelles resignation comes as Gucci attempts to make amends for its blackface scandal. The Italian fashion house was recently accused of selling a sweater that resembled blackface. Gucci has since apologized for its transgression and has announced long-term intiatives to improve cultural awareness and diversity within the company.
