Prada has just pulled one of its products and rearranged the windows from its Soho store after the item was found to resemble a racist caricature. Gothamist reported that attention was first brought to the Otto-Toto figure, part of the Pradamalia collection, on Thursday. Chinyere Ezie, an attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, was walking by the Soho location and saw the figurines in the window, which she then posted about on Facebook.
After Ezie’s post gained popularity online, Prada responded via a statement. “Prada Group abhors racist imagery,” the brand wrote on Twitter. “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. We abhor all forms of racism and racist imagery. We will withdraw all of the characters in question from display and circulation”.
[1/2] #Prada Group abhors racist imagery. 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 (@Prada) December 14, 2018
[2/] #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 the characters in question from display and circulation.
— PRADA (@Prada) December 14, 2018
The item has also been removed from Prada’s website, although it appears in cartoon form on other products.
Subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date on all the latest fashion news and juicy industry gossip.