Controversies are many, right from politics and cultural appropriation to race and mental health, the topics of this year’s fashion controversies are far-reaching and highly diverse.
The internet didn’t hold back when it came to calling out retailers for items they deemed inappropriate or insensitive, with many companies being forced to pull products off the shelves to appease the public.
- Olivia Jade – March 2019
While Olivia Jade Giannulli is well known on the Internet as just Olivia Jade. She was already a well-known influencer with 1.3 million followers on Instagram, catapulted into the spotlight thanks to her famous parents, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli and “Full House” actress Lori Loughlin. They were charged in the now infamous college admissions scandal, where more than 40 adults allegedly used bribes to get their children admitted to elite colleges.
Jade’s parents are charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and honest services fraud and money laundering for spending roughly $500,000 in bribes to get her and her older sister, Isabella Rose Giannulli, admitted to the University of Southern California.
They pled not guilty in April to the charges, but face a maximum of 40 years in prison each if found guilty.
It is unclear if Jade was aware of the alleged bribery before the news broke, however, she has experienced a number of setbacks to her influencer career because of the scandal. Many fashion and beauty brands have dropped their influencer partnerships with Jade, including Sephora which collaborated with Jade on a now-discontinued highlighter palette The Estée Lauder Cos. and Australian retailer Princess Polly, among others.
Undeterred by her parents’ legal drama, Jade is still planning her comeback by successfully reapplying her trademark for a namesake beauty line. However, she has made no comments on the brand or returned to her social media accounts since the scandal broke.
Giannulli and Loughlin’s cases are still ongoing, with their next court appearance slated for Oct.
2. Jaclyn Hill – June 2019
One of the year’s most highly anticipated makeup launches was Jaclyn Cosmetics, the namesake line from beauty influencer Jaclyn Hill. Her large and dedicated fan base with nearly 6 million subscribers, Hill’s line of 20 nude lipsticks was been met with controversy and allegations of contamination.
Shortly after the brand launched at the end of May, customers took to social media to share pictures of their Jaclyn Cosmetics lipsticks, many of which appeared to have tiny hairs, holes and round particles attached to the bullets.
As of July 23, Hill returned to her YouTube channel with a video titled “Where I’ve Been,” apologizing to her followers and customers for the drama. In the 19-minute video, Hill explained why she’s remained quiet on the issues and what she’s doing to fix her brand. “I’ve wanted to create and own my own cosmetics brand since I worked at MAC Cosmetics at the Woodfield Mall in Chicago when I was 20 years old,” she said.
“That’s always been my dream and that’s why this whole thing has been so hard for me because I completely failed. I say it every day and I still choke on those words.”
3.Marissa Fuchs (aka The Fashion Ambitionist) – June 2019
Marissa Fuchs, the director of brand partnerships at Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop and the blogger behind @fashionambitionist, sent Instagram into a frenzy during a quiet weekend in June when her now-husband, Gabriel Grossman, launched a viral and international scavenger hunt in order to propose and marry her all within the span of four days.
Fuchs painstakingly documented every step of the scavenger hunt on Instagram, posting more than 300 Instagram Stories over the weekend from locations like New York City, the Hamptons, Miami, and Paris.
While many were enthralled with the jet-setting proposal, according to a source, Fuchs’ employer, Goop, wasn’t pleased. A source close to Goop told WWD that company leadership had no prior knowledge of the social media stunt and had no involvement in orchestrating the proposal. They were also surprised by Fuchs’ extensive branding effort.
During the scavenger hunt, Fuchs removed her job title from her Instagram bio, replacing it with the hashtag #WhereIsGabe. According to the Daily Mail on July 3, Goop has launched an internal review on how the proposal was put together. Goop’s senior vice president of communications, Noora Raj Brown, says: “While we’re happy for Marissa, the proposal is only associated with her personal brand and entirely separate from Goop.” She went on to state Fuchs did not receive formal approval for the social media stunt.
Fuchs has been silent on her social media channels since her last post from the scavenger hunt in June. Her title at Goop is still listed on her LinkedIn page.
BY SNEHA BHARDWAJ | DKODING MEDIA
