Social media lit up with images of a $1,000 Chanel advent calendar on Thursday, featuring a glamorous black-and-white photo of famous models Chanel Iman, Joan Smalls, Joan Smalls, Cindy Crawford, Lara Stone, Lea T, Mariacarla Boscono, Karlie Kloss, Lily-Rose Depp, Alexina Graham, Anna Mouglalis, Hanne Gaby Odiele, Julian Shaw and Thylane Blondeau. But the celebrations turned sour when an outraged Twitter user posted a photo of the calendar, which had been placed inside a Chanel case that labeled it with a simple “Cartier” label.
A post shared by Tassie Serino (@tassie.serino) on Apr 26, 2017 at 1:48pm PDT
A post shared by Patrick Herman (@peterg.hermann) on Apr 26, 2017 at 1:52pm PDT
Twitter user Patrick Herman created the hashtag #eunicemanlayers to bring attention to the calendar, with his tweet being retweeted 3,700 times. A series of similar tweets from users added to the outrage — though Chanel immediately defended the calendar, urging users to stop insulting the model and fashion industry, and issued an apology.
.@leadispon This is not a product of racial stereotyping or the exploitation of black models. As a global luxury brand @chanelofficial has a zero tolerance policy for racism. — Chanel (@chanelofficial) April 27, 2017
We are truly sorry for the bad translation on the last case. We worked on the editorial and you saw the black models in the bags and the case only. — Chanel (@chanelofficial) April 27, 2017
Don’t attack the writers. Attack Chanel’s racism. — Chanel (@chanelofficial) April 27, 2017
We’re working on a new case with a different and better description! I hope you understand now. To learn more about our work we can visit http://chanel.com/ — Chanel (@chanelofficial) April 27, 2017
Chanel’s apology prompted another Twitter user to make a collection of questions concerning the practice of putting black women in images showing white women in dark-colored suits.
Can the Chanel calendar features its black models in regular photographs while the collectors edition containing a $1000 black model in case uses the white model as the background? — sadu akbar (@SadufAkbar) April 27, 2017
Chanel was called out for paying Black women to wear sharp suits and accessories like a fur coat with a cape. See a photo of Chanel in a soiled pantyhose trench coat below.
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