Kim Kardashian’s life of jet setting and glamour continues, as she is promoting her husband Kanye West’s Yeezy Season 8 fashion line in Paris. She posted pictures of herself wearing his swag on Twitter, and her followers immediately noticed her chosen hairstyle. A white woman wearing box braids is a controversial look to be sure, and people were quick to point out that Kardashian is in the wrong here.
This is hardly the first time that Kim has been accused of cultural appropriation, and it is likely not going to be the last.
Yeezy Season 8 pic.twitter.com/KGptFecHNC
— Kim Kardashian (@KimKardashian) March 3, 2020
People (mostly black women, who you should definitely listen to about traditionally black hairstyles, Kim) are calling her out in the tweet replies. Truly, they dragged her to hell and back.
“the harder she tries the more she looks white to me”
“How does she keep getting away with it”
“Bruh why do you keep doing this? You think she’d learn. Put your hair up in a high pony and go to the fashion show like everyone else.”
“we are tired”
Kim has faced the “culture vulture” accusation before, and this is just another example.
YOU 👏ARE 👏NOT👏 BLACK👏
— THE SKINNIEST OF THE LEGENDS (@MisaJaymes) March 3, 2020
Perhaps her biggest cultural appropriation backlash was after she initially named her shape wear collection Kimono, a word that is not a play on her name but a part of Japanese culture. After she received a letter from the mayor of Kyoto, Japan, Daisaku Kadokawa, she explained that she learned a bit about respecting other cultures.
“He was very thoughtful and very kindly explaining to me the meaning of kimono and why that’s so important to their culture. Reading that letter, I felt an understanding. I definitely did not want to disrespect a culture.
That’s not what the brand is even about — it’s about inclusivity, it’s about comfort, it’s not about making people uncomfortable. I just feel kind of dumb. Like, why didn’t we think about this? It sucks that it’s so public and that everyone can see the mistakes of the brand as they’re live, but I’ve got to just calm down. Everything happens for a reason.”
Finally I can share with you guys this project that I have been developing for the last year.
I’ve been passionate about this for 15 years.Kimono is my take on shapewear and solutions for women that actually work.
Photos by Vanessa Beecroft pic.twitter.com/YAACrRltX3
— Kim Kardashian (@KimKardashian) June 25, 2019
However, Kim was in hot water again a few months later, when she did a photoshoot with 7 Hollywood Magazine. The glamorous shoot featured Kardashian in make up several shades darker than her natural skin tone, with many people claiming that it was dangerously close to blackface. One Twitter user pointed out:
“The thing with Kim Kardashian and her family’s tireless history of cultural appropriation and Blackfishing is that she knows better. They know better. But they continue to do this because they know outrage sells. They’re able to keep their name relevant by doing things like THIS.”
Controversy is, for better or worse, is part of the Kardashian brand.
