Prada has been slammed for using racist iconography in its latest keyring chain, which features a monkey with oversized red lips.
The keychains from the luxury fashion brand have been likened to the extremely racist 1899 children’s book caricature, Little Black Sambo.
Criticism was swift, with Facebook user and New York Center for Constitutional Rights attorney Chinyere Ezie calling out Prada claiming the keychains made her “shake with anger”.
Ezie’s post went viral, and many other social media users used the platforms to express their disappointment in the brand, with some even pushing to #BoycottPrada.
If @prada had people of color on staff in positions of power, #BoycottPrada would have never happened. Just another reminder why #diversitymatters https://t.co/JFi0pUUzDV
— T*itter is over (@lawyergrrl) December 14, 2018
Prada has now released a statement apologising for the keychains, and have pulled the merchandise from stores.
A Prada spokesperson said: “The Pradamalia are fantasy charms composed of elements of the Prada oeuvre.
“They are imaginary creatures not intended to have any reference to the real world and certainly not blackface.
“Prada Group never had the intention of offending anyone and we abhor all forms of racism and racist imagery.
“In this interest, we will withdraw all of the characters in question from display and circulation.”
The backlash comes just weeks after fellow luxury fashion brand Dolce & Gabbana was embroiled in its own racist controversy.
In late November, D&G was forced to cancel a Shanghai fashion show as a campaign featuring a Chinese woman eating pizza with chopsticks was deemed racist.
Commenting on the campaign, China’s Communist Youth League said: “Foreign companies operating in China should respect China and respect Chinese people.
While actor Talu Wang also tweeted on social media platform Weibo: “Respect is more important than anything.”
The situation was made worse when screenshots of an Instagram post from the co-founder of Dolce & Gabbana Stefano Gabbana began circulating, where he had used poop emojis to reference China.