Designers for the New York City-based fashion brand Bstroy said the items were meant to make a bold statement.
Somehow, the term “fashion faux pas” doesn’t seem to fully capture what happened here.
New York City-based fashion brand Bstroy is under fire for a controversial line of sweatshirts designed to make a statement on gun violence and school shootings.
Photos of models wearing collegiate-style sweatshirts that read “Columbine,” “Stoneman Douglas," “Virginia Tech” and “Sandy Hook” ridden with bullet holes during New York Fashion Week drew outrage, with one Instagram user commenting: “My dead classmates dying should not be a f****** fashion statement.”
Others mirrored the same sentiment, with victims and families commenting with their disgust.
“As a victim of Columbine, I am appalled,” one person wrote.
Another said, “You’ll never know what our family went through after Vicki died protecting her students.”
While the sweatshirts do not appear to be available on their website yet, similar styles available for purchase are priced between $180 and $410.
One of the brand’s designers for the spring/summer 2020 collection, Brick Owens, posted a handout from the show that attempted to explain the idea behind the line.
It read: "Sometimes life can be painfully ironic. Like the irony of dying violently in a place you considered to be a safe, controlled environment, like school. We are reminded all the time of life's fragility, shortness, and unpredictability yet we are also reminded of its infinite potential."
Owens told Today Style that he and co-designer, Duey Catorze, meant to make a bold statement: "We wanted to make a comment on gun violence and the type of gun violence that needs preventative attention and what its origins are, while also empowering the survivors of tragedy through storytelling in the clothes.”
While Owens said the collection was never meant to be sold, they are now considering putting the items on the market in the face of the controversy.
Bstroy has not responded to InsideEdition.com for comment.
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