Marc Jacobs shared a photo of his LA boutique on Instagram, saying ‘A life cannot be replaced. Black Lives Matter.’
Sparked by the killing of George Floyd, mass protests broke out across America across the course of the weekend. In Minneapolis, New York, Washington, and beyond, people took to the streets to demand justice for Floyd, where they faced more of the police brutality they were fighting back against.
In many cities, luxury fashion stores became targets, with some set on fire and others looted. In New York, Bloomingdale’s, Gucci, and Nike were raided, while in LA, many Rodeo Drive boutiques were targeted, with Alexander McQueen, Chanel, and Marc Jacobs among them.
While most of the labels have remained silent on the damage done to their stores, Marc Jacobs has been vocal in supporting the protests, posting a photograph of his own LA boutique to its Instagram. The image showed the store’s logo plaque on which ‘Marc Jacobs’ had been struck out and replaced with George Floyd’s name, as well as that of Sandra Bland – a black woman who was killed while in police custody in 2015. The accompanying caption read “A life cannot be replaced. Black Lives Matter.” It was later also posted to Jacobs’ personal IG.
On an earlier post where he also stated ‘Property can be replaced, human lives cannot’, the designer was asked if he was ‘crazy’ by one follower. “What if they destroyed your stores?” they asked, to which he responded “My store was destroyed last night.” His message is a marked departure from 2017, when he was widely criticised for sending white models with dreadlocks down the runway, before claiming “I don’t see color or race – I see people” in the following apology.
Others have denounced the looting and rioting taking place in the US right now, however, with some labelling it opportunistic and encouraging more peaceful protest. Among them is Virgil Abloh, who took to his own Instagram to share a series of posts which showed his friend Sean Wotherspoon’s stores, Round Two and Round Two Vintage, after they were ransacked. “This is fucked up,” he also commented on one of Wotherspoon’s posts. “You see the passion blood sweat and tears Sean puts in for our culture. This disgusts me.”
“I can’t stress enough, our shops are not what you should be worried about,” Wotherspoon himself replied to another commenter who said he was upset at what happened to the stores. “We need our world to change, people should all be treated equal.”
Elsewhere, Bobby Hundreds posted a photograph of his Los Angeles store The Hundreds, which had been broken into amid this weekend’s unrest. In an impassioned accompanying statement, he wrote: “I am not angry about the devastation. When commenters ask how I can condone rioting and looting, I categorically do not. Yet I am not surprised.”
“Is anyone truly surprised that 2020 looters would not set fires or rob banks, instead opting to steal Bearbricks and sneakers? We feed these kids this bullshit all day. Convince them they need things they don’t, that they are not enough without a brand on their back,” he continued. “We TAUGHT THEM to value hoodies above their relationships, their financial education, their careers.”
Yesterday, protests calling for justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and countless others took place across the world, with more planned throughout this week. Read our guide on how to protest safely here and learn how to be a better ally here.