A.P.C. designer Jean Touitou raised eyebrows by calling a portion of his Fall/Winter 2015 Collection, "Last N***s In Paris." According to Style.com, the designer's announcement drew a nervous laugh from the crowd previewing the collection.
Touitou told the crowd, "I call this one look Last Ni**as in Paris. Why? Because it's the sweet spot when the hood—the 'hood—meets Bertolucci's movie Last Tango in Paris. So that's 'Ni**as in Paris' and Last Ni**as in Paris."
He continued, "Oh, I am glad some people laughed with me. Yes, I mean, it's nice to play with the strong signifiers. The Timberland here is a very strong ghetto signifier. In the ghetto, it is all the Timberlands, all the big chain. Not at the same time—never; it's bad taste. So we designed Timberlands with Timberland..."
Style.com reached out to the designer about using the n-word, and he explained that Kanye essentially gave him a pass because they're friends.
"I am friends with Kanye [West, who recorded" 'Ni**as in Paris' with Jay Z], and he and I presented a joint collection at the same place, one year ago, and that this thing is only a homage to our friendship. As a matter of fact, when I came up with this idea, I wrote to him, with the picture of the look and the name I was giving to it, and he wrote back immediately saying something like, 'I love this vibe.'"
What are your thoughts on the situation?
Source: Complex
