The Internet Versus Louis Vuitton
By: Taliyah Norris
Issue 4 SPring 2021
Black History Month just passed and in the last weeks, the internet was met with some surprising news. There are currently allegations that Louis Vuitton sponsored human zoos in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. These accusations were made back in 2019 but were brought back into the public eye on February 17th by R&B artist, Trey Songz. He reposted a post from the New York-based clothing brand, Cointel, and it was viewed by 170,000 people. He posted photos of the Louis Vuitton Exhibition structure along with an image of a child in a cage while people gawked at them. He captioned this post,
“I was today years old when I found this out REPOST @cointel In the late 1800s into the early 1900s Louis Vuitton sponsored human Zoos. These displays came to be seen as emblematic of the racism and inhumanity underlying the colonialist mindset.”
Luxury brands have faced backlash before like Gucci for the knit sweater mimicking blackface sweater and Prada’s Little Black Sambo key chain. These allegations and scandals hurt the consumer of these brands because they feel negative about supporting a brand that according to Kalum Byrne, “profits off of mocking the people who buy it.”
Human Zoos were popularized in Western European society in places like Berlin and Paris, and also in East Asia in Japan. During the late 1800s, groups were captured from their homes and were put on display in their “natural habitat” to be observed. They presented people with physical disabilities and minorities like Black, Native American, Filipino, and Korean, because the Europeans believed they were “superior” and wanted to observe them. Human zoos are examples of scientific racism and pushed negative labels onto these minority groups by calling them “savages,” “cannibals,” and “primitive.”
Although there is a picture of Louis Vuitton, there is no concrete evidence provided that they sponsored human zoos. This claim was made by Katrina V. Adam, where she provided a link to a blog that mentioned Louis Vuitton having products on exhibit at the fairs, but the article did not claim that Louis Vuitton was there actively engaging with the zoos. The photo used was a Louis Vuitton pavilion, but it was used to display African-themed products and has no evidence to house a human exhibition. So, there is currently no evidence that supports Louis Vuitton having a part in the human zoos. As of right now, Louis Vuitton says, “This allegation is completely false.”
“I was today years old when I found this out REPOST @cointel In the late 1800s into the early 1900s Louis Vuitton sponsored human Zoos. These displays came to be seen as emblematic of the racism and inhumanity underlying the colonialist mindset.”
Luxury brands have faced backlash before like Gucci for the knit sweater mimicking blackface sweater and Prada’s Little Black Sambo key chain. These allegations and scandals hurt the consumer of these brands because they feel negative about supporting a brand that according to Kalum Byrne, “profits off of mocking the people who buy it.”
Human Zoos were popularized in Western European society in places like Berlin and Paris, and also in East Asia in Japan. During the late 1800s, groups were captured from their homes and were put on display in their “natural habitat” to be observed. They presented people with physical disabilities and minorities like Black, Native American, Filipino, and Korean, because the Europeans believed they were “superior” and wanted to observe them. Human zoos are examples of scientific racism and pushed negative labels onto these minority groups by calling them “savages,” “cannibals,” and “primitive.”
Although there is a picture of Louis Vuitton, there is no concrete evidence provided that they sponsored human zoos. This claim was made by Katrina V. Adam, where she provided a link to a blog that mentioned Louis Vuitton having products on exhibit at the fairs, but the article did not claim that Louis Vuitton was there actively engaging with the zoos. The photo used was a Louis Vuitton pavilion, but it was used to display African-themed products and has no evidence to house a human exhibition. So, there is currently no evidence that supports Louis Vuitton having a part in the human zoos. As of right now, Louis Vuitton says, “This allegation is completely false.”
