Fashion brand Bstroy received a flurry of condemnation on social media after their New York Fashion Week show featured school shooting-themed hoodies, complete with bullet holes
On a photo of the Stoneman Douglas hoodie, one person commented,
“My dead classmates dying should not be a fucking fashion statement.”
Another commented:
“As a victim of Columbine, I am appalled. This is disgusting. You can draw awareness another way but don’t you dare make money off of our tragedy.”
A spokesperson for the Vicky Soto Memorial Fund, established after teacher Victoria Soto was killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School, tweeted:
“This is just absolutely horrific. A company is make light of our pain and other’s pain for fashion. Selling sweatshirts with our name and bullet holes. Unbelievable.”
This is just absolutely horrific. A company is make light of our pain and other’s pain for fashion. Selling sweatshirts with our name and bullet holes. Unbelievable.
— Team Vicki Soto (@TeamVickiSoto) September 17, 2019
These School Shooting Hoodies Receive Major Twitter Backlash – PAPER https://t.co/DovuEeRaqM
The brand’s spring/summer 2020 collection was designed by Brick Owens and Duey Catorze.
Co-designer Owens posted a handout from the show on Instagram, which reads,
“Sometimes life can be painfully ironic. Like the irony of dying violently in a place you considered to be a safe, controlled environment, like school. We are reminded all the time of life’s fragility, shortness, and unpredictability yet we are also reminded of its infinite potential.”
What do you think: Art or Tasteless and Off limits?