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New Zealand fashion designer Dame Trelise Cooper has apologized for an “embarrassing mistake” after naming a $ 299 dress “Trail of Tiers.” The name bears great similarity to the forced relocation of Native Americans during the Trail of Tears of the 1830s.
Give me Trelise Cooper. Source: 1 NEWS
The Trail of Tears saw some 45,000 Native Americans driven from their ancestral lands by the United States government at the time. Thousands died throughout the 8,000 km relocation, and many fell ill and starved.
In a statement to 1 NEWS, the group Trelise Cooper said they were “completely unaware” of the meaning of the term.
“We called a Trail of Tiers dress because it’s a tiered maxi dress with a back hem, not knowing the meaning of the term Trail of Tears.
“We are recalling this dress from all stores to have the name changed immediately.
“This mistake was made out of ignorance. But, given the pain that ignorance of past injustices has caused, we are distressed to have increased this damage.
The dress is no longer listed on the Trelise Cooper website. But, the dress was still on the website of Australian boutique fashion store Tea Lily at 1pm today.
A screenshot on the website of Australian boutique store Tea Lily of Trelise Cooper’s ‘Trail of Tiers’ dress. Source: Screenshot / Tea Lily
The apology came after criticism of the name on Twitter.
In a tweet, Professor Joanna Kidman, of Ngāti Maniapoto and Ngāti Raukawa descent, compared the name of the dress to “colonial violence in floral polyester.”
“The accounts of native women who were raped by settlers and soldiers on the Trail of Tears and the Long Walk of the Navajos do not translate well into a fashion statement,” said the Maori education professor at Victoria University of Wellington.
Kidman told 1 NEWS that he expected to see action behind the apology, for example, a donation of the dress to the Navajo Nation and Hopi Nation reservations.
“Some of them are the most affected by the virus,” he said.
He also urged companies to have meaningful conversations and “work very closely” with indigenous communities, rather than simply “selecting” cultural symbols for profit. Kidman said this was important because companies like fashion designers were in prime positions.
“I want to see mature and respectful conversations about racism,” he added.
In 2014, Cooper was attacked after wearing a Native American headdress. In 2011, she was also criticized for using duct tape to stretch the eyes of models during a Fashion Week show to give them an “Asian” look.
1 NEWS has contacted the Association for Indian and Native American Studies for comment.
