Stella McCartney had an Africa-inspired runway show and Twitter is not here for it.
Stella McCartney is the latest designer accused of cultural appropriation after her (predominately white) models sashayed down the runway in African-inspired designs during Paris Fashion week.
McCartney used ankara for her Spring/Summer 2018 collection—a cotton fabric with vibrant designs that are primarily associated with tribal-like patterns and motifs. According to AllThingsAnkara.com, the fabric is also commonly called "African prints","African wax prints" and "Dutch wax."
To quote OkayAfrica, people accused McCartney of "taking designs that Africans have been wearing for years, calling them [her] own, and charging people out the ass for them."
Twitter was definitely not impressed:
But more than that, they thought these outfits looked mighty familiar. Many dragged McCartney for "designing" the dresses their mothers, aunts, and grandmas have been wearing for years:
Stella McCartney joins a long list of designers accused of appropriating different cultures with their designs, including Tory Burch, Les Benjamins, and Marc Jacobs.
McCartney also used a lot of acid-washed denim in her show, which is definitely not as offensive as appropriating African designs, but still pretty damn offensive.