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Gucci Faces Possible Backlash for Straitjackets at Milan Show

  • Model protests on runway that ‘Mental Health Is Not Fashion’
  • Gucci apologized in February for sweater resembling blackface
Model Ayesha Tan Jones held up “Mental Health Is Not Fashion” on her hands at the Gucci Spring/Summer 2020 fashion show during Milan Fashion Week.

Model Ayesha Tan Jones held up “Mental Health Is Not Fashion” on her hands at the Gucci Spring/Summer 2020 fashion show during Milan Fashion Week.

Photographer: Jacopo Raule/Getty Images

Kering SA’s Gucci faces a possible backlash for showing straitjackets, meant to make a statement about self-expression and not to be sold in stores, at Milan Fashion Week.

Model Ayesha Tan Jones held up “Mental Health Is Not Fashion” on her hands on her way down the runway. She then posted on Instagram that straitjackets symbolize “a cruel time in medicine when mental illness was not understood.” She called Gucci’s use of the imagery “hurtful and insensitive.”