ASOS remove listing of ‘Slave’ t-shirt worn by a black model
The seller said no offence was meant
Sarah BrownToday ASOS Marketplace, their vintage boutique sister site, had to remove an item with racist connotations. The brand ‘Wasted Heroes’ posted a white T-shirt printed with ‘SLAVE’ which was worn by a black male model.
The listing has now been removed from the Marketplace website, but Wasted Heroes still sell the shirt on their website.
A post on Yik Yak with a picture of the t-shirt said: “Someone @ ASOS is losing their job.” ASOS Marketplace is a venue for selling and buying fashion goods. Wasted Heroes confirmed the item, being sold for £18.99, had been removed from the Marketplace website.
A spokesperson for Wasted Heroes said: “ASOS have removed the item in question. The t-shirt was referencing that we are slaves to fashion labels hence why it is titled ‘Slave to the label’ and no offence was intended with this design or listing.”
Wasted Heroes have other T-shirts with the catch-line “SLAVE” available on their website. However none of these are using a model and the T-shirt in question is still purchasable.
The original post has now been removed
An ASOS spokesperson said: “Marketplace is a collection of independent sellers who must agree to our terms and conditions when they join. Whenever we find product that violates our policies we remove it immediately. There is also a “report this item” link under every product picture. If you’d like to find out more about what is prohibited, please visit the Marketplace website: https://marketplace.asos.com/help/terms-and-conditions“