Seriously, Prada, what were you thinking? Why the fashion industry keeps bumbling into racist ima...

A display of expensive tchotchkes in the windows of Prada's Soho boutique in downtown New York included one style that recalled a Golliwog, the 19th century blackface character with big round eyes and large red lips. The thing also resembled the title character from "Little Black Sambo," a children's book of the same era. Either way, the connotations were unequivocally racist.

Prada 位于纽约市中心 Soho 区的门店的橱窗里，展出了一系列昂贵的小饰品，而其中一款的造型不禁让人想起了“黑脸布娃娃”的形象。这个来自 19 世纪的“黑脸”人物，有一双圆圆的大眼睛和一对肥厚的红嘴唇。它还像《小黑人桑波》里的同名主人公——这本儿童画册同样来自 19 世纪。不论如何，种族歧视的意味不言而喻。

After complaints from the public, the Prada Group issued an apology, dismantled the display and announced that it would pull the offending $550 charm from circulation. "They are imaginary creatures not intended to have any reference to the real world and certainly not blackface. Prada Group never had the intention of offending anyone and we abhor all forms of racism and racist imagery," the company said in a statement.

遭到公众声讨后，Prada 集团发出了一封道歉信，拆除了事发的展柜，并宣布它将会下架这款引起公愤的、标价 550 美元的挂件。该公司在一份声明中说：“这些形象纯属虚构，没有意图和现实世界产生任何联系，更遑论‘黑脸’。Prada 集团从来没有意图冒犯任何人，我们对一切形式的种族主义和歧视性艺术形象深恶痛绝。”

Fashion companies are fluent in the language of marketing. Designers are savants of the visual arts. But both often lack the ability to see beyond the surface—beyond the sales pitch and the color palette—to get at the complex humanity of people. They continue to see everything from their own singular point-of-view. To some degree, that is their job. They digest a bounty of inspiration. And they create something personal and proprietary.

时尚大牌通晓市场营销的语言，而设计师们深谙视觉艺术的门道。但两者往往都缺乏一种穿透事物表象的能力，无法触及广告文案和调色板之外，那纷繁复杂的人性。他们仍然在用自己单一的视角观察世界。在某种程度上，这是他们工作的本质。他们要吸收大量的灵感，从而创造出同时具有个人风格和品牌印记的作品。

That's an explanation, however, not an excuse. Globalism demands allowing more voices—more diverse voices—into the creative process and into the decision-making equation.

这是一种解释，却不是开脱的理由。一个全球化发展的品牌，需要让更多的声音——更多元化的声音——参与到创意的过程和决策的权衡之中。

—————  文章来源 / 华盛顿邮报

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tchotchke/ˈtʃɑːtʃkə/
n.（美式俚语）小玩意儿，小装饰物
boutique/buːˈtiːk/
n. 小型时装店；精品店
recall/rɪˈkɔːl/
v. 使人想起
e.g.
This painting recalls Picasso.
Golliwog/ˈɡɑːliwɑːɡ/
n. 黑脸布娃娃
blackface/ˈblækfeɪs/
n.（假扮黑人用的）黑脸妆容
resemble/rɪˈzembl/
v. 像，类似于
e.g.
It has/bears a resemblance to Little Black Sambo. (n.)
connotation/ˌkɑːnəˈteɪʃn/
n. 隐含意义，联想意义
unequivocally/ˌʌnɪˈkwɪvəkəli/
adv. 毫不含糊地，清清楚楚地
dismantle/dɪsˈmæntl/
v. 拆除
pull … from circulation
停止流通；下架
offending/əˈfendɪŋ/
adj. 令人不悦的；造成问题的
e.g.
an offensive remark (adj.)
The offending motorist will incur a penalty of 6 points.
charm/tʃɑːrm/
n. 小装饰物，小挂件
reference/ˈrefrəns/
n. 关系，联系
e.g.
Any reference to real life is purely coincidental.
abhor/əbˈhɔːr/
v. 憎恶
savant/sæˈvɑːnt/
n. 专家
get at
触及
humanity/hjuːˈmænəti/
n. 人性
digest/dɪˈdʒest, daɪˈdʒest/
v. 消化；理解，吸收
a bounty of
大量的…
e.g.
Fall is a time to collect nature's bounty.
proprietary/prəˈpraɪəteri/
adj. 专卖的
e.g.
The Lightning port is Apple's proprietary feature.
diverse/daɪˈvɜːrs/
adj. 多元化的
equation/ɪˈkweɪʒn/
n. 等式，方程；（多种因素的）平衡
e.g.
solving the equation
take sth. into the equation