“Luxury clothing brand Ralph Lauren is apologizing amid fallout over the brand’s use of lettering and symbols associated with a historically Black fraternity,” shares Atlanta Black Star(ABS).
ABS continues:
Members of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. sounded the alarm this week after a pair of chino pants featured on the brand’s French site used Greek letters representing the fraternity’s nomenclature, according to the Black Greek lifestyle blog Watch the Yard, which first reported the story. The red and black lettering appears on the back knee of the pants, which retail for about $335.
The Yard said that less than three hours after it published a story on the apparent infringement it was contacted by a Ralph Lauren rep who said the company would be removing the pants from sale.
“The use of these symbols on our products was an oversight for which we deeply apologize,” the company said in a statement. “We are immediately taking action to remove this product from our sales channels. While we have a rigorous review process in place for all of our designs, this has prompted us to take another review of our protocols to help ensure that this does not happen again.” Read more via Atlanta Black Star.
