Are rows over cultural appropriation a dastardly PR ploy? | Arwa Mahdawi
Comme des Garçons’ use of white models in cornrows is the most recent of countless disputes about the subject. It almost makes you think it’s not an accident
Is cultural appropriation the new black? It certainly seems to be the hottest trend in the fashion industry: every other week there is a row over the subject.
The latest offender is the Japanese fashion house Comme des Garçons, which has been criticised for putting white models in cornrow wigs. In an apology, the stylist, Julien d’Ys, seemed to suggest that the wigs weren’t meant to be cornrows – a traditionally black hairstyle – but a nod to Egyptian pharaoh hair, to which the internet replied: why not use Egyptian models?