People Are Furious at ASOS for Carrying a Brand With a Very Racist Name

From Good Housekeeping

ASOS is facing controversy over the name of a clothing brand it's stocking. Brand strategy consultant and co-founder of plus-size clothing label Premme Nicolette Mason tweeted the retailer to ask why it was carrying a label with the racist name "Noose and Monkey":

"Hey @ASOS," Mason tweeted, including an ASOS link for the brand's Leaf Print Sweat, which shows the item worn by a person of color. "you know i love you guys, but how are you carrying a brand with THIS name?! TRULY unacceptable. & extremely unfair to the models, as well."

The ASOS customer queries account responded:

In an email to ELLE.com, Mason said she had discovered the brand through a closed Facebook group and wanted to speak out about the discovery: "I do work with ASOS as an influencer and have shopped with them for years. In general I think they've done a really great job at being a leader when it comes to diversity in their casting and inclusive visual language. But I expect them to have the same scrutiny and tone of inclusion in their buying as I do in their messaging - so they need to be accountable for the brands they carry, as well."

Mason also pointed out that other people have called ASOS out on Twitter for stocking the label, dating back to last June. According to tweets from various customers, ASOS has stocked the brand since at least October 2013.

In one instance, ASOS US' Twitter account referred the customer back to the London-based brand's website for the story behind the name:

Nooseandmonkey.com explains that the brand's name derives from folklore:

ASOS issued the following statement to ELLE.com: "We are very sorry this brand name has caused offense. We have removed it from our site immediately and will work with their team to address the naming issue."

Despite swift and strongly voiced criticisms of fashion brands for racist slogans and imagery, retail behemoths have continued to produce items that raise ire. In 2016, ASOS faced similar criticisms for featuring an image of a black model wearing a T-shirt that read "SLAVE," made by the label Wasted Heroes. The retailer removed the item and the image from its Marketplace site, where ASOS features "independent sellers." And last month H&M apologized for a photo of a black child wearing a hoodie that said "Coolest monkey in the jungle" and pulled the item from stores globally.

Singer The Weeknd had expressed disgust at the image, with other celebrities like LeBron James joining him:

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