This year at Paris Fashion Week, Russian-born influencer Miroslava Duma posted a photo of a note from fashion designer Ulyana Surgeenko.
An excerpt of the note read, “To my n—-s in Paris,” which Duma posted on Snapchat. Sergeenko then sent out an apology on her Instagram:
“I woke up this morning with my phone full of insulting messages, ‘you deserve the worst in your life,’ ‘die white trash,’ and so on,” Sergeenko wrote. “I was born in a small town in East Kazakhstan, my daughter is half-Armenian, I have never divided people on white or Black. Kanye West is one of my favorite musicians, and NP is one of my most favorite songs. And yes, we call each other the N-word sometimes when we want to believe we are just as cool as the guys who sing it. I am deeply sorry to anyone I may have offended. Mira is a dear friend and even the fact that she so naively posted my private card to her on her social means that we meant nothing wrong and didn’t realize the consequences. I have certainly learned my lesson and I am grateful for it. There is enough anger in the world out there, please, can we stop it here? [heart emoji]”
This DISGUSTS me. To see Mira post something on IG so casually using this racial slur, and then have Ulyana defend the usage with such a bs excuse makes my blood boil. So tired of “fashion girls” thinking that listening to one rap song gives them the right. pic.twitter.com/P5XHVnNXaX
— Callia A. Hargrove (@calliarmelle) January 23, 2018
The news shows ignorance among the fashion industry, according to Matthew Schneier, a New York Times reporter. It is “quite possibly the worst apology for casual racism.”
“I actually prefer that these people air their unvarnished feelings, so the world will know,” Schneier added on Twitter. “But I am always surprised that they continue to pay tens of thousands of dollars a month to high-end PR firms who can’t save them from themselves before, during or after these idiocies.”
