Cornrows on White Models: The 2020 Comme des Garçons Menswear Backlash

Plagiarism & Stolen Heritage4/5 wildness

Cornrows on White Models: The 2020 Comme des Garçons Menswear Backlash

Comme des Garçons / Julien d'Ys / 2020s

In January 2020, Comme des Garçons' Fall 2020 menswear presentation sent a predominantly White group of models down the runway wearing cornrowed lace-front wigs. The styling immediately drew criticism because cornrows are a historically Black hairstyle, and placing them on non-Black models was widely read as the appropriation of Black cultural identity without the lived history of racism and discrimination attached to the style. The backlash intensified because the hairstyle was presented by a powerful Paris fashion house as an exotic visual accessory. Stylist Julien d'Ys defended the concept on Instagram, saying that his inspiration had been an Egyptian prince and that he intended an homage rather than an insult; he apologized for causing offense. The episode became part of a larger fashion-industry reckoning over whose cultural symbols are treated as avant-garde styling when worn by White models, but criticized or stigmatized when worn by Black people.