Eccentric designer Jeremy Scott is facing a major online backlash for his latest campaign: an “illegal alien”-inspired photo shoot starring, who else, Gigi Hadid and Kaia Gerber, Cindy Crawford‘s daughter.
Scott posted a photo of Gigi in blue body paint and a one-piece orange suit reminiscent of Star Trek.
“THE ONLY THING ILLEGAL ABOUT THIS ALIEN IS HOW GOOD SHE LOOKS,” Scott originally captioned the photo. Oof…
The image was met with fierce backlash, some saying it trivialized the plight of illegal immigrants and others deeming the term “illegal alien” offensive.
https://twitter.com/eiffeltyler/status/1011313510754775043
guess it would have been too difficult for jeremy scott to just use immigrant models to achieve the theme of his campaign rather than paint white girls red and call them "illegal aliens"
— mac (@sylviastilly) June 26, 2018
I love abstract work & new ideas. That’s what the beauty and fashion industry is about. But the new “Illegal Aliens” campaign is profiting from the current immigrant crisis. Had Jeremy Scott reconsidered the phrasing of his caption, it would not have received such backlash. pic.twitter.com/RGWVf4OZGX
— princess (@donutsmattertoo) June 27, 2018
Scott clarified that he was trying to make a political statement. He amended the caption on the photo of Gigi, although he stopped short of apologizing.
“ALIEN NATION,” Scott wrote. “WHAT IS AN ‘ALIEN?’ THE CONCEPT OF MY AD CAMPAIGN IS TO BRING ATTENTION TO THE US ADMINISTRATION’S HARSH STANCE TOWARDS ‘ILLEGAL ALIENS.'”
“I PAINTED THE MODELS IN MY SHOW AND THIS CAMPAIGN AS A WAY TO OPEN A DISCUSSION ON WHAT EXACTLY AN ‘ALIEN’ IS – ARE THEY ORANGE BLUE YELLOW GREEN? DOES THIS MATTER? THEY ARE OUR FRIENDS, NEIGHBORS, CO WORKERS, RELATIVES AND PEOPLE WE LOVE.”
What do you think?