Clothing store Free People has come under fire for cultural appropriation in their their new festival line. According to Cosmopolitan, the store, known for its handmade items, recently introduced a new Festival Collection that includes a lot of feathers and beading, which many consumers see as appropriating Native American culture.
The collection included items such as a jeweled and feathered headdress, modeled by a blonde, white woman—which also offended many customers, according to Refinery29. The lack of people of color among Free People’s models only added outrage to the existing criticism of the unpopular collection.
Cultural appropriation has been a hot topic in the media lately, whether it is Amandla Stenberg calling out Kylie Jenner’s cornrows or Justin Bieber’s dreadlocks being ill-received. If you are still confused as to the topic of cultural appropriation, Zendaya explained the entire concept perfectly to PopSugar last month: “The credit gets taken away from us when we make certain statements or when we do certain things. That is the frustration. People want to be around for the positives and the things that we bring as far as culture, but they don’t want to be around when we have problems or when we’re getting shot in the streets,” she said. “You know what I’m saying? You have to be there for the whole experience. You can’t just decide when you want to be a part of our culture.”
We can only hope that people follow Zendaya’s advice, and understand the difference between appreciating a culture and appropriating it.