French designer Jean Touitou (pictured) apparently thinks that the repeated use of the N-word will enhance his fall 2015 A.P.C. Timberlands men’s collection. While the models showcased his casual line, Touitou held up a sign that reportedly read, “Last Ni##@$ IN PARIS,” according to Style.com.
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As if flashing the racially biased and insulting sign wasn’t enough, Touitou then went a step further by saying the N-word in a poor attempt to explain the inspiration for his collection :
“I call this one look Last N****s 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 “N****s in Paris” and Last N****s in Paris. [Nervous laughter from audience.] 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….”
Touitou, who considers hip-hop star Kanye West (pictured), a good friend, once had the rapper design a capsule collection for his clothing line. Before Touitou came up with the asinine idea for his use of the N-Word to punctuate his latest fashion-forward don’ts, the designer claims he ran the idea by West, who supposedly sanctioned his use of the word:
“I made looks which are a cross-over of those two references: the Timberland shoes and the sweat pants are iconic of hip-hop, and the camel hair color coat, worn with nothing under it, is iconic of that precise movie. 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.””
Your thoughts?
A.P.C. Founder Drops N-Word During Men’s Collection And Kanye Approves? was originally published on newsone.com
