'I think these were aesthetic attempts to be outrageous. While such design firms can't be blamed for being provocative - fashion is, after all, about taking risks and sometimes skirting the edge of good taste - these incidents make them appear woefully out of touch with the national dialogue on race and other topics. Gucci pulled a sweater that resembled blackface and released an apology after many people wrote to the company in outrage over the racist garment. 'Nobody needs to pay that much for a sweater, so they are flailing around,' she added. Last year, Prada came under fire for displaying figurines that evoked blackface imagery, while Dolce & Gabbana was forced to cancel a China fashion show after Stefano Gabbana, one half of the design duo, made insulting comments about Chinese people on social media. A screenshot from Gucci's website shows it described as a 'runway showpiece.' Most recently, Gucci pulled a wool balaclava sweater from its online and physical stores and apologized to the public for the design, which many social media users said reminded them of 'blackface.' The $890 item featured an oversized neck with a cutout for the mouth outlined in red, imitating a pair of lips.

Yet in a string of recent incidents, prominent brands have provoked outrage with racist designs, raising a simple question: What on earth were they thinking? High-end fashion designers live or die by their cultural relevance, requiring they pay radar-like attention to changing consumer tastes.

Sweater vests fashion faux pas