J. Crew is facing criticism after a photo of one of its models and her seemingly unkempt hair surfaced online.
The black woman, dressed in a Madewell dress, was photographed with her natural hair messily pulled back in a ponytail. But everyone wasn’t impressed with the look.
One Twitter user took to the platform to express her disapproval. She uploaded the picture of the model with the caption, “J. Crew..... girl.... y’all wrong.”
Many seemed to agree with her sentiment, because the post soon went viral racking up more than 11,000 retweets and 20,000 likes.
J. Crew..... girl.... y’all wrong. pic.twitter.com/M25MHbrb3L
— Daë Louise (@UnordinaryDae) November 9, 2017
Several chimed in, accusing the fashion brand of prepping the model for the shoot without using the proper practices needed to style African-American hair.
A messy bun looks messy on longer hair on shorter hair it just looked unkempt.
— Jacquelyn (@xtrmpayn) November 14, 2017
It’s not a necessity but obviously her hair WASNT DONE. It was a suggestion lol
— Cleopatra (@_newcleopatra) November 10, 2017
Was their a Black hair stylist involved in creating this lazy unskilled outcome? A simple yes or no will do.
— Delorme (@DelormeDmckee) November 14, 2017
Others, including the model, Marihenny Pasible, thought the look was in line with J. Crew’s relaxed and natural campaign.
The girls hair is supposed to be messy if you look at the whole campaign than you’ll see the point pic.twitter.com/Jbxefzyqil
— Majadi Patrick (@jadidelaluna) November 15, 2017
I saw it that way, too. Going for the minimalist style, purposefully unkempt and no-fuss
— bodega "stop harrassing women" cat (@fauxfurs) November 10, 2017
Some challenged the critics, asking them to embrace the care-free look for all cultures.
It's such a shame that non-black girls can wear their hair any way they want and no one bats an eyelid; but a black girl has hair sticking out her ponytail and suddenly it's the end of the world
— Sharyu (@sidewalksrih) November 10, 2017
!! It's cute I like it. It needs to be normalised more.
— Sharyu (@sidewalksrih) November 10, 2017
But I am reading this as a white gal who is allowed to be unpolished. It’s my hope that everyone can look so carefree without worry.
— jill e krupnik (@ducky_krupnik) November 10, 2017
After the barrage of comments, J. Crew released a statement on Twitter.
“J.Crew strives to represent every race, gender, and background. We sincerely apologize for the styling of this model and the offense that was caused,” the company wrote.
>> Read the full response here
J.Crew strives to represent every race, gender, and background. We sincerely apologize for the styling of this model and the offense that was caused. We assure you that we are taking steps to address it, and to prevent this from happening again.
— J.Crew (@jcrew) November 10, 2017
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