Add J. Crew to the list of retailers apologizing for a fashion faux pas.
The retailer has pulled a St. Patrick’s Day-themed t-shirt from its collection after a social media outcry called it “offensive” for leaving the whole of Northern Ireland off of a stylized map that festooned the front.
Some of the protests also objected to the words “beer,” “whiskey,” and “more beer” as stereotypes written across the country.
J. Crew, in a statement to Fortune, said “This product has been removed from sale and we regret any unintended offense it may have caused.”
The shirt’s map doesn’t include the six counties that make up Northern Ireland in its design. Twitter user Francis X Kennedy was the first to point out the flaw, launching a firestorm of objections.
Hey, @jcrew, it's great that you're doing an Irish t-shirt for St Patrick’s Day, but this is offensive, bordering on obnoxious, for a couple of reasons. I'll let you figure it out for yourselves, but showing the design to any Irish person would have helped. 😢 pic.twitter.com/goAieDEawP
— Francis X Kennedy (@FXKennedy) February 17, 2019
J. Crew’s apology comes alongside a separate one from Burberry, which found itself in trouble Tuesday after featuring a hoodie sweatshirt with a noose during a London Fashion Week show. They join H&M, which last year apologized after having a black child model a sweatshirt with the words “Coolest Monkey in The Jungle“. And the Gap last year found itself in a similar situation to the one J. Crew currently faces for printing shirts with an incomplete map of China.
Adding to the list of fashion missteps is singer Katy Perry who recently apologized and removed a line of shoes after a controversy over their similarities to blackface
