On Wednesday, customers on ASOS Marketplace, ASOS’ indie multiseller sister site, noticed a Wasted Heroes tee shirt with the word “SLAVE” printed on it. To make things worse, for some reason, ASOS had decided to use a black model for the shirt.
The outcry was swift and as instant as the internet can be, leading ASOS to quickly issue an apology and admit, “It really was extremely stupid of us.” The item was removed as well, ASOS confirmed.
Apparently, the shirt was meant to portray people being “slave to fashion,” according to Wasted Heroes.
“The T-shirt was referencing that we are slaves to fashion labels hence why it is titled ‘Slave to the label’ and no offense was intended with this design or listing,” the brand said to Tab, the student newspaper that was the first to report on the shirt and the controversy over the model.
ASOS, meanwhile, issued a statement after taking down the image. “Marketplace is a collection of independent sellers who must agree to our terms and conditions when they join,” ASOS told Mic. “Whenever we find product that violates our policies we remove it immediately. There is also a ‘report this item’ link under every product picture.”