H&M accused of lacking diversity in its campaigns

H&M may still be celebrating the success of its latest collaboration with Balmain, but it has landed in hot water after a series of tweets from its South African Twitter account.

After a customer visited a store and criticised the retailer for the lack of diversity in the posters displayed, she was told that its marketing is supposed to be “inspiring”, and that it’s essential for them to “convey a positive image” – the implication being that it’s white models that embody the positivity the brand seeks to present.

South Africa, of course, is a country where racial issues are at its forefront, not to mention the very recent history of white supremacy and apartheid, so this comment was met with fierce criticism on social media. Although that specific tweet has now been deleted, the ones that followed it have not. H&M South Africa went on to say that they “work with a wide range of models and personalities” before tweeting out a list of models of colour that it has previously employed which strangely included Kendall Jenner, alongside Naomi Campbell and Alek Wek.

Harmful racial stereotypes are pervasive in advertising, especially in fashion, where most of the luxury houses tend to work with a majority of caucasion girls and the lack of diversity seen on the catwalk and in campaigns is an ongoing issue.

H&M has now issued a formal apology stating that “In no way does H&M state that positivity is linked to an ethnic group” and that it “embraces all people who are inspired by fashion, regardless of ethnic background, gender or culture.”

Image:H&M AW15 campaign