Indigenous Taiwanese designer's ensembles interpreted by attendee as 'blackface'

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/10/08
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — In what appears to be a cultural misunderstanding, the 2019 Taipei Fashion Week SS20 stirred controversy on Sunday (Oct. 6) after several models were seen with their heads and limbs covered in black fabric, leading one attendee to accuse the designer of dressing the models in "blackface."

At the finale of the fashion week's welcome party, which took place at Taipei World Trade Center's Exhibition Hall 3, models wore brightly colored dresses with patterns reminiscent of African designs. The face, head, neck, arms, and legs were covered in a thin black fabric.

The models' faces were black and featureless with the exception of bright red, jeweled lips. The ensembles were accentuated with matching bows that the models wore on their heads.

Models clad in black at Sunday's show. (Images from Twitter user @AnicaTCLin)

At 7:40 p.m. on Sunday evening, Taiwanese jeweler Anica Lin took to Twitter to complain about the fashion show, saying "Blackface is not okay. I didn't catch the name of the designer but in this day and age this is NOT COOL."    [FULL  STORY]