THE DAMAGE IS DONE

CULTURAL APPROPRIATION IN FASHION MARKETING CAMPAIGNS

In this post I will be taking a look at the questionable lengths brands will take in regard to their marketing campaigns and how racism is rampant in the fashion industry.

The term cultural appropriation, coined in the 1980s, is “used to describe the taking over of creative or artistic forms, themes, or practices by one cultural group from another; generally Western appropriations of non-Western or non-white form. The act of cultural appropriation connotes cultural exploitation and dominance” (Oxford).

Social media has had both favourable and unfavourable consequences in the world of marketing. It has had the power to introduce people to new communities, cultures, and trends. Over the last couple of years, however, we have seen a surge in misappropriation of other cultures and how cultures have been leveraged in a manipulative way.

Cultural appropriation has been seen in many forms of marketing over the years whether it be through styling, language and even memes that have derived from the African American English vernacular. An example of this occurred recently involving artist, Megan Thee Stallion with the phrase “hot girl summer”. Fashion brands quickly jumped on the bandwagon to use the phrase for marketing their products. Social media users were quick to call out brands that didn’t give the rapper any form of credit. They were also offering brands various suggestions, including one that involved some sort of collaboration with the rapper that would have created a more successful marketing campaign.

Brands have the ability to create relevant content without being exploitative, yet many of them have had a hard time understanding this. There is a fine line between creating engaging and culturally relevant content without being appropriative. One of the main issues being that these brands obviously have a lack of diversity represented and not enough people of colour in positions of power. Inclusion, diversity and representation are important to consider for brands in order to avoid any form of cultural appropriation in their marketing. Diversity amongst staff members and diverse perspectives in the content creation process is necessary in order to diversify content. This can lead to a celebration of culture as opposed to appropriation.

Luxury fashion brand, Dolce and Gabbana is often under fire for their controversial views and involvement in racially insensitive content.

The lack of representation ultimately damaged the reputation of Dolce and Gabbana amongst many other factors. In 2018, the brand released a campaign targeting their Chinese audience, using hashtags #DGLovesChina and #DGTheGreatShow, promoting their upcoming show in Shanghai. The campaign was riddled with racial stereotypes, including one where the Chinese model was attempting and ultimately failing to eat absurdly large portions of pasta and cannoli with chopsticks. The ad evoked a racist tone, implying that chopsticks were uncivilised, and many Chinese people were left feeling that the brand was making a mockery of their culture.

Drama ensued as the co-founder, Stefano Gabbana defended the campaign through a series of DMs on Instagram. After being called out and an astronomical amount of backlash, he exclaimed that he was hacked. Instead of taking accountability, the brand issued a series of lies and performative apologies before eventually cancelling the show in Shanghai, costing them millions. A collaboration with their Chinese following or Chinese artists could have helped avoid this disastrous campaign from occurring, as this was ultimately an attempt to cater to their Chinese audience.

Transparency with customers is important. Companies need to keep an open dialogue with them in order to understand what people want from them and to create a system of trust.

Values need to be reflected in a company’s marketing and authenticity needs to be at the core of your message.