by Tai Ross
Fashion Nova, the new online clothing company, has been blowing up. The brand has gotten support from celebrities like Kylie Jenner, Cardi B, Amber Rose, and Blac Chyna.
According to the Fashion Nova website, their aim is to make girls feel confident and sexy. Their about page states, “We at Fashion Nova believe the customer is the Star. The girls who rock our styles are adventurous, inspirational and badass.”
In October, Fashion Nova launched its first Halloween costume collection, but it’s not getting universally rave reviews. In fact, certain styles in the collection have spurred questions like, “When will this end?”
One costume that caused trouble was a “Selena-inspired” costume, which the company named “La Flor.” The costume caused a controversy in the Latinx community, at least in part because of a perceived lack of homage to the singer.
One user on Twitter wrote, “So FashionNova, what we not going to do is act like this costume pays any sort of homage to the legend, the one and only, Selena Quintanilla-Pérez.”
The costume is a purple jumpsuit with bell-bottomed legs and a low-cut top. It’s inspired by Selena’s final performance at the Houston Astrodome.
The website Hip Latina, in discussing the costume, noted that the costume “does straddle the line of appreciation and profiting off of culture.”
The costume is possibly based off of Kim Kardashian’s “Selena” costume from 2017. Some people disliked Kardashian’s choice of costume, but others thought it was great.
“Gonna start blocking people who retweet that horrible Kim Kardashian Selena Quintanilla salsa onto my timeline,” tweeted user DJTGIF.
This isn’t the only insensitive costume in Fashion Nova’s first collection.
Another costume that upset shoppers depicts a geisha. The costume is a black mini skirt; a kimono with a plunging v-neck; a red, blue, and gold belt; an obi; and a set of hair sticks.
This costume has been seen as offensive to some people who are Japanese. Culturally, geishas are an important part of the Japanese tradition. Many have dubbed the geisha costume appropriative.
Meg Arbeiter, an English teacher at The Chicago High School for the Arts (ChiArts) said that she thought the geisha costume was inappropriate.
“Clearly this is marketed to people who want to do something that’s sort of taboo,” said Arbeiter. “We have to find ways to interrupt that.”
Another problematic costume is “Harem Nights.” A harem is a the separate part of a Muslim household reserved for wives, concubines, and female servants. The outfit presented by Fashion Nova has been accused of being sexualized and problematically turned into a costume.
Sources: https://hiplatina.com/fashion-nova-unveils-selena-quintanilla-costume/
https://ew.com/music/2017/11/01/kim-kardashian-selena-quintanilla-costume-twitter-reaction/amp/
