A tapestry resembling uniforms worn by Nazi concentration camp prisoners is drawing outrage from the Anti-Defamation League.
The striped tapestry sold by Urban Outfitters features upside-down pink triangles which are “eerily reminiscent” of those used to identify gay male prisoners in the camps, the organization said Monday.
“Whether intentional or not, this gray and white stripped pattern and pink triangle combination is deeply offensive and should not be mainstreamed into popular culture,” said Abraham H. Foxman, national director of the ADL and a Holocaust survivor.
“We urge Urban Outfitters to immediately remove the product eerily reminiscent of clothing forced upon the victims of the Holocaust from their stores and online,” he added.
The tapestry appeared absent from the company’s website Monday evening while a “Triangle-Stripe Curtain,” with no picture provided, was listed as “sold out.”
This isn’t the first time the retailer has come under fire for controversial designs.
Just months earlier the company released a “vintage” Kent State University sweatshirt that appeared splattered with fake blood.
Apparently unbeknownst to the retailer, in 1970 four unarmed college students were shot to death and at least eight others wounded during a rally at the school.
The retailer later apologized for the upset it caused — the university being among those expressing outrage over its design — while defending the design as “part of our sun-faded vintage collection.”
In 2012 the Anti-Defamation League also criticized the retailer for its sale of a T-shirt featuring a yellow Star of David which Jews were forced to wear in Nazi Europe.
“We find this use of symbolism to be extremely distasteful and offensive, and are outraged that your company would make this product available to your customers,” Barry Morrison, ADL regional director, stated at the time.
A request for comment from the retailer was not immediately returned.
