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Fashion designer Dame Trelise Cooper is coming under fire for a new dress design called “Trail of Tiers.”
The $ 299 sundress, which has been removed from her website, has sparked ire on the social media platform Twitter.
The name of the dress is similar to Trail of Tears: the forcible relocation of some 46,000 Native Americans between 1830 and 1850 by the United States federal government.
Native Americans were driven from their lands on foot and forced to cross the Mississippi River into what was called “Indian Territory.”
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Thousands died on the trip.
Professor Joanna Kidman from Victoria University of Wellington said she found Cooper’s website and the dress and found the name “very jarring.”
“I couldn’t believe what I was actually seeing.”
Kidman used Twitter to express his thoughts.
She said Things her felt that the name of the dress was the “height of total insensitivity.”
“It is very difficult for me to understand how anyone could consider a floral polyester dress as an appropriate statement about one of the most embarrassing episodes in American colonial history.”
Kidman, a sociologist affiliated with Ngāti Maniapoto and Ngāti Raukawa, said that the name of the dress was a cultural appropriation of indigenous history.
“People still live with the impact of this story,” he said.
Screenshot / One Rundle Trading Co.
The Trail of Tiers dress was still available on other clothing websites around 11am on December 10.
“What this reflects to me is the lack of attention and empathy for the damage that has been caused and continues to cause in the present.”
Kidman said she wanted to know if Cooper or his company knew that the name of the dress was a play on words.
He also wanted to know if someone in the company was checking the brand.
Those questions were asked of Cooper, but she declined to comment on the file about the name of the dress.
Screenshot
A screenshot of the website for the Trail of Tears dress, which has been removed since Stuff contacted Trelise Cooper.
“Things it’s just after a clickbait title. You are so terrible to me, ”he said.
“It’s being a tabloid clickbait.”
Cooper later apologized for the name of the dress in a statement..
“We sincerely apologize for our embarrassing mistake in using a term whose meaning was completely unknown to us,” he said.
“We called a Trail of Tiers dress because it’s a tiered maxi dress with a back hem. [We were] unaware of the meaning of the term trail of tears.
“This mistake was made out of ignorance. But given the pain that ignorance of past injustices has caused, we are distressed that we have joined in this damage.
“We apologize for any damage this error has caused.”
Cooper said the dress would be recalled from all stores and renamed.
Kidman also said it would be great if Cooper donated all proceeds from the sale of the dress to the Navajo Nation and Hopi Nation reservations in the US that are battling the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said it was a shame Cooper refused to comment as he really wanted to know where the fashion designer came from.
Screenshot / Tea Lily
The Trail of Tiers dress could also be seen for sale on the Tea Lily website around 11 a.m. on December 10.
Race relations commissioner Meng Foon said he appreciated Cooper apologizing and removing the dress from his website.
“Acknowledging that these issues have been wrong is the first step in going anti-racist.”
He described the Trail of Tears as a tragic event and said the use of ‘Trail of Tiers’ would likely offend Native Americans and others in the community who were concerned about how colonial history is depicted.
“When companies think of moral and corporate responsibility, this must include that they do not contribute to racism,” he said.
“As Commissioner for Race Relations, I want New Zealand businesses to lead the way in knowing the difference between respecting and drawing inspiration from indigenous and ethnic cultures, and not offending, disrespecting or profiting from communities and cultures.
“My advice to companies is to properly investigate and involve affected communities in their work.
“When concerns about names arise, I recommend that companies discuss, listen, learn, and make an informed decision about whether to continue using that name.”
The dress can still be seen on other clothing websites.
It is not the first time that Cooper has been criticized for cultural references.
In 2014, he apologized for any wrongdoing caused by wearing models on a runway wearing a Native American headdress.
And in 2011, 10 of their models had the skin around their eyes pulled back with sheer tape to create an “Asian” look, further exaggerated by the spectacular eye makeup during their New Zealand Fashion Week show. .
