New York City Forces Miuccia Prada And Execs To Undergo Racial Sensitivity Training
In case you missed it, Prada faced a ton of backlash back in 2018 due to racially inflammatory accessories that were a part of their Pradamalia collection. The collection featured a $550 “Otto-Toto” monkey-like key chain with dark brown skin and large red lips, and made many consumers highly uneasy.
Prada pulled all of the items from the shelves in stores, including New York City, but that didn’t stop the city from taking legal action against the legendary fashion house.
According to The New York Times the New York City Commission on Human Rights, led by Carmelyn P. Malalis, issued a cease-and-desist letter to Prada, which led to them taking the issue all the way to court and winning.
Losing the suit means that CEO Miuccia Prada, as well as other Prada execs, and all of the company's employees in New York will undergo sensitivity training courses.
Prada is also required to hire a director of diversity and inclusion whose role will be to review every design that will be advertised or sold in the U.S, similar to roles already in place at Dolce & Gabbana and Gucci.
Prada will have to disclose the demographic makeup of its entire staff by next February, and the council Prada convened in response to this incident in 2019 will have to continue for six years, with regular status updates given to the commission every six months.
We’re not sure if this will actually change anything in the fashion industry, because the problems are enormous at this point. It is refreshing to see that the legal system is committed to accountability and making sure that changes that are implemented begin a high level an address the systemic issues. It’s certainly a start!
