Spanish fashion chain Mango has been forced to apologise for advertising a ‘Slave Style’ range of jewellery, prompting backlash from internet users taking offence at the description.
An online petition organised by two French actresses entitled “Slavery is not fashion”, has attracted more than 6250 signatures.
“This jewellery is meant to make an object of fantasy and fashion out of slavery,” they said in the petition, addressed to Mango’s public relations department.
“Mango is trivialising tragedies … that still today have an impact on millions of human beings across the world.”
The company blamed the mistake on a translation error and the items have now been renamed.
The word ‘esclave’ used in the range’s description can translate to ‘bracelet’ or ‘chain’, and does not have negative connotations in Spanish.
A gold change, previously described as ‘Slave Style’, is now simply listed as ‘Necklace’ on its French site.
“We regret the translation error. The relevant services have been alerted and will make the correction immediately,” Mango tweeted.
But despite the explanation, criticism is still raging on social media with commenters lobbying to boycott Mango.
Some users have likened Mango’s faux pas to the crisis Amazon got itself into earlier this week over selling offensive t-shirts, which it also blamed on a computer error.
Controversial designer Jeremy Scott caused similar outrage with a pair of shoes he designed for Adidas featuring ‘shackles’ attached around the ankle, linked to racism and slavery.
After plenty of backlash, Adidas cancelled the shoe before it was released and issued an apology.
Your say: Do you think Mango is trivialising tragedy? Are ‘slavery-style’ accessories offensive?
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