Burberry has apologised for featuring a hoodie with a noose around the neck at London Fashion Week.
The fashion brand was criticised by one of its own models, Liz Kennedy, in a long post on Instagram in which she said: “Suicide is not fashion.”
“Let’s not forget about the horrifying history of lynching either,” she added.
Burberry boss Marco Gobbetti said the brand was “deeply sorry for the distress” caused, adding: “It was insensitive and we made a mistake.”
The hoodie featured in a collection called Tempest which was on the runway at London Fashion Week on Sunday.
The show featured “rebellious youths” scaling walls in one space and Burberry’s creative director Riccardo Tisci dedicated it to “the youth of today”.
Model Liz, who had been part of the Burberry show but didn’t wear the hoodie, said the design was “not glamorous nor edgy”.
She wrote on Instagram: “How could anyone overlook this and think it would be okay to do this especially in a line dedicated to young girls and youth?
“The impressionable youth. Not to mention the rising suicide rates worldwide.”
Liz said she felt “extremely triggered” after seeing the design and felt “as though I was right back where I was when I was going through an experience with suicide in my family”.
She told her Instagram followers she had tried to bring up the issue in the dressing room but was told to write a letter instead.
