What’s worse, apparently, than a fashion house selling an Auschwitz pajamas? A fashion house selling a blood soaked sweatshirt bearing the insignia of Kent State, as if it belongs to someone who’s just emerged from the may 4, 1970 Ohio Kent State massacre.
Urban Outfitters actually did it, an act of callused idiocy that easily matches any ISIS beheading. At least ISIS isn’t charging for the blood soaked orange robe.
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The catalog description next to sweatshirt reads: “Washed soft and perfectly broken in, this vintage Kent State sweatshirt is cut in a loose, slouchy fit. Excellent vintage condition. We only have one, so get it or regret it!”
The price: $129.00 – online only.
Here are some of the response tweets, we endorse every last one:
Urban Outfitters explores the outer reaches of bad taste.
Urban Outfitters is pure garbage: selling a Kent state sweatshirt w/ blood spatter.
Yet another reason to boycott Urban Outfitters.
According to Buzzfeed, as of 2:15 AM ET on Sept. 15, the UO website bloody shirt reads: sold out.
Then, at 10:13 AM ET, “Urban Outfitters sincerely apologizes for any offense our Vintage Kent State Sweatshirt may have caused. It was never our intention to allude to the tragic events that took place at Kent State in 1970 and we are extremely saddened that this item was perceived as such. The one-of-a-kind item was purchased as part of our sun-faded vintage collection. There is no blood on this shirt nor has this item been altered in any way. The red stains are discoloration from the original shade of the shirt and the holes are from natural wear and fray. Again, we deeply regret that this item was perceived negatively and we have removed it immediately from our website to avoid further upset.”
There should be a special place in hell just for designers. The only thing is, I can’t think of anything terrible to put there, because they’ve already used up all the most horrifying ideas.