Gucci bonfire: Is the rap community done with racist fashion brands?
The heat is picking up around a recent Instagram post by @davidsbastiananti which encourages musicians and artists to get together and burn their Gucci shirts, bags and shoes in what was coined a “Gucci Bonfire.” The post is a response to the recent racist sweater that Gucci released back in Feb.
The sweater reinforces Blackface reminiscent of racist cartoons and film. Since its release, the sweater was pulled from the market and Gucci has apologized on Twitter for the “offense caused by the wool balaclava jumper.”
Gucci deeply apologizes for the offense caused by the wool balaclava jumper.
We consider diversity to be a fundamental value to be fully upheld, respected, and at the forefront of every decision we make.
Full statement below. pic.twitter.com/P2iXL9uOhs— gucci (@gucci) February 7, 2019
Gucci is only one of the many designer brands that benefitted from the rap community’s clout while it became a staple symbol for the drip, SMH. From Gucci Mane and A$AP Rocky to Lil Pump’s commercial anthem “Gucci Gang,” Gucci owes an enormous debt to the hip-hop community.
We need that bread back! There’s no way Gucci’s racist “mistake” would go unnoticed by the community. Other artists, since the release of the Blackface sweater, have expressed their outrage.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bt1g3gKHCDw/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Throwing in his two cents, T.I. explicitly rejected the Twitter apology in an IG post. 50 Cent took his own Gucci shirt and burned it on a video shortly after the sweater’s release. Now, Dame Dash voiced his rejection of Gucci by promoting David Sebastian’s post and sharing it on his Instagram.
Dame Dash called Gucci out and said the bonfire is,
“Disruptive and this is the only way we get our culture back…we actually give them our drip then they sell it back to us then make fun of us…enough is enough…”
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bu96pTtng_E/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
The Gucci bonfire Instagram post invites artists to send a DM for the location of the bonfire that is set to flame up on Sunday, March 17 at 2 pm. The post identifies this event as sparking the beginning of the “movement to dismantle the ‘matrix.'”
The post promises a “surprise guest,” and asks for the location to only be shared with trusted friends and family willing to watch Gucci go up in flames. The post encourages artists to bring their instruments and promises that there will indeed be a real Gucci bonfire.
“It’s going to be fire…. Literally.”
David Sebastian was originally promoting the bonfire as a general “High Fashion Bonfire/ Jam Session.” Sebastian promotes similar demonstrations and rejections of racist institutions through ANTI Society, “the Artist Network Transforming and Influencing Society.”
David Sebastian, an artist himself, also promotes his own clothing line through a link in his Instagram bio. Via his last IG post, Sebastian has received 375 DMs, 500 text messages, 700 plus emails, 1,300 new followers, a voicemail from CNN’s head correspondent, a text message from his very concerned momma, and a couple of death threats…
Stay tuned for the high-fashion and rebellious roasting.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BuVBJLgHdJt/