Prada, the Italian luxury label, has decided to put their set of animal-themed trinkets from the market following backlash due to inclusion of a brown monkey with large red lips called “Otto Toto,” an item many on social media are deeming racist for its blackface imagery.
In a public Facebook post, lawyer for the Center for Constitutional Rights Chinyere Ezie wrote, “Today after retuning to NYC after a very emotional visit to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture including an exhibit on blackface, I walked past Prada’a Soho storefront only to be confronted with the very same racist and denigrating blackface imagery.”
Last Friday, Prada addressed the claims in a tweet that read:
“Prada Group abhors racist imagery. The Pradamalia are fantasy charms composed of elements of the Prada oeuvre. They are imaginary creatres not intended to have any reference to the real world and certainly not blackface.”
The following morning, Prada’s website went down and the brand removed all references to the keychains from their social media platforms.
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