Nordstrom Pulls Moschino Drug-Themed Clothing Line After Protests
Nordstrom pulled a fashion line by high-end brand Moschino last week that was criticized for making light of drug addiction. The line includes clothes and handbags that look like prescription pill bottles or are covered in images of pills. The items are part of a capsule line the Italian fashion brand introduced during New York’s 2016 Fashion Week. They feature a $950 prescription pill bottle shoulder bag and a $795 print wool knit sweater. Nordstrom had earlier decided to keep carrying the line despite protests and boycotts on social media and elsewhere that accused the retailer of being insensitive about the nation’s drug epidemic.
Total Retail's Take: The controversy comes at a difficult time for Nordstrom: sales at its department stores fell 7 percent in the first half of the current fiscal year. In addition, this is the second time within a year Nordstrom has had to stop selling a line of clothes deemed offensive. Last November, the store removed Faux Real’s ‘Chai Maintenance’ Hanukkah sweaters from its site and store shelves after angry customers saw it as playing on clichés about Jewish women.
