World Jewish News

A screen grab from the Urban Outfitters website, showing the 'Wood Wood Kellog Tee' on April 21, 2012.

Danish fashion company apologizes over ‘Holocaust’ t-shirt

A Danish fashion company apologized on Monday for a t-shirt featuring a detailing that resembles the Star of David worn by Jews during the Holocaust.
The t-shirt came under fire last week, as the Anti-Defamation League slammed the clothing retailer Urban Outfitters for advertising it on its retail website.
Brian Jensen, co-founder of Wood Wood, wrote in a public statement published on the company’s website that the symbol emerged from working with patchwork and geometric patterns, and was in no way a reference to Jews, the Nazis or the Holocaust.
However, he said the company did recognize the resemblance when they received an early prototype of the t-shirt, but that it decided not to include the star patch on the final t-shirt. According to Jensen, the image that appeared on the Urban Outfitters website was “a photograph of an early prototype.”
Jensen apologized for any offense caused by the t-shirt, saying “it was of course never our intention to hurt any feelings”.
The ADL responded to Wood Wood’s apology, expressing satisfaction at the way the Danish company dealt with the matter. "We are deeply appreciative to Wood Wood for reaching out to us immediately after learning that this particular design had caused so much concern and to assure us that this t-shirt was never offered for sale," said Abraham Foxman, ADL National Director.
“We are pleased that the company recognized early on the shirt's potentially offensive imagery and changed the design so the six-pointed star-shaped logo would no longer appear," he added.
At the time of publication, the photo on the Urban Outfitter’s retail website had been updated with a picture of the “Wood Wood Kellog Tee” in which the six-pointed star had been removed from the yellow t-shirt’s left pocket.

By Aimee Neistat

Haaretz.com