Clothing Store Apologizes for Selling Swastika Necklaces
A national online retailer, SHEIN apologized yesterday for selling gold swastika necklaces on its website.
According to InStyle.com the company released the following statement late yesterday afternoon.
For the record, SHEIN was not selling a Nazi swastika pendant, the necklace is a Buddhist swastika which has symbolized spirituality and good fortune for more than a thousand years. The Nazi swastika has a different design; it is pointed clockwise and tilted at an angle. However, because we understand the two symbols can be confused, and one is highly offensive, we have removed the product from our site.
The New Your Post reports that just last week SHEIN had to apologize for selling 'frilled Greek carpets' who many believed were Muslim prayer rugs. The company posted this to their Instagram account.
SHEIN removed the product and posted an apology.
View this post on Instagram
UPDATE: @sheinofficial has now removed most of these items from their website, which is what we wanted; however there’s been no acknowledgement, statement or apology from them. . I am disgusted. I am livid. @sheinofficial is also PROFITING off muslim prayer mats (janemaz/sajadah) by selling them as ‘fringe trim carpets’ for people to use casually around the house. A few have the Kaaba printed on them. THIS IS HIGHLY OFFENSIVE, Not only is it disrespectful but they once again renamed and stole credit from a whole faith this time, by failing to label it as a muslim prayer mat; which allows people to use it casually as a decorative mat. *A prayer mat is an important piece of fabric, used by Muslims, placed between the ground and the worshipper during their five daily prayers. It is NOT a carpet and must be treated with respect and you don’t ever wear shoes on it. It's important for us to acknowledge the disrespect that is committed here, and that action must be taken to remove this product from their line. Corporate organisations can be difficult to take down, but you can do your bit by: -BOYCOTTING THEM -RAISING SOCIAL MEDIA AWARENESS (can really make a difference) - SENDING EMAILS . They are a company based in china, which makes it more difficult to take certain actions, therefore tagging and raising awareness which will enable people to boycott them is the way forward until they take down the items, acknowledge and apologise. If anyone has any ideas of what more we can do, DM me. . Thanks to @toobzz__ for bringing my attention to this. . #shein #sheinofficial #muslim #prayermat #culturalappropriation #islam #china A post shared by Khadija Rizvi 👩🏽🎨 (@s.khadija.r) on
According to CBS news, the company made the following statement.
"As a global brand, we vow to do a much better job in educating ourselves on different cultures, religions, and traditions to ensure our diverse community is respected and honored. We offer our sincerest apology to all whom we have hurt and offered, and hope we can earn your forgiveness."
A Change.org petition was even started calling for a ban of the company over the incident.