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By Rob Shimshock
A French fashion designer has apologized for selling a boomerang that critics have blasted as culturally offensive.
Chanel’s “luxury boomerang,” priced at nearly $2,000, has elicited insults such as “stupid white people” and a demand that the company pays reparations, reported The Sydney Morning Herald.
Makeup artist Jeffree Star featured the boomerang on his Twitter profile.
Having so much fun with my new @Chanel boomerang
One user said Star could be feeding impoverished families with the money spent on the device. Another asked how much of the money went to Indigenous Australians.
“The boomerang is a piece of Australian Aboriginal culture,” said a user with the pseudonym “Amber J,” commenting on Star’s Instagram post of the boomerang. “No other place has it. This is the most blatant cultural appropriation.”
Star told detractors to “relax” and “focus on [their] own hopes and dreams.” But other users still took the opportunity to berate Chanel for its supposed insensitivity.
At A$1,930, the Chanel boomerang costs nearly 10% of the average income of Indigenous Australians https://t.co/l4ICYkR4JU
— Elle Hunt (@elle_hunt) May 16, 2017
“As a good corporate citizen, Chanel should apologize fully, withdraw the boomerang from sale, and make appropriate reparations to Australian Indigenous communities,” said Matthew Rimmer, an professor of intellectual property or innovation at Queensland University of Technology in Australia, to The Sydney Morning Herald.
While Star did not apologize, Chanel issued a statement in an attempt to mend bridges with those who felt offended.
“Chanel is extremely committed to respecting all cultures, and regrets that some may have felt offended,” said a Chanel representative to Fairfax Media.
This apology comes just days after the fashion house apologized to actress Gabourney Sidibe for an experience in which the actress alleges she was racially profiled at a Chanel store.
Chanel did not respond to a request for comment from The Daily Caller News Foundation.
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