Representatives of clothing store H&M are to speak at an anti-racism conference to discuss steps taken following the brand’s “coolest monkey in the jungle” hoodie gaffe.
It is expected they will share “insights about the interventions that they have employed following their racist hoodie advert” on Thursday, IOL reported.
In January the retailer faced a backlash after releasing an image of green hoodie with the “monkey” slogan modelled by a black boy.
Many expressed outrage over this, describing it as “irresponsible” and “racist”, while some activists trashed H&M stores in South Africa.
This action and widespread condemnation prompted the brand to apologise.
The event which H&M team members are to speak at will be hosted by the Anti-Racism Network South Africa and is a two day conference in Johannesburg.
Its theme is ‘Pathways to Anti-Racism' and the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation detailed that H&M, Hennes & Mauritz, would be in attendance.
At the time of the hoodie controversy, H&M released a statement that said: “We agree with all the criticism that this has generated – we have got this wrong and we agree that, even if unintentional, passive or casual racism needs to be eradicated wherever it exists.
“This incident is accidental in nature, but this doesn’t mean we don’t take it extremely seriously or understand the upset and discomfort it has caused.
“We will now be doing everything we possibly can to prevent this from happening again in future.”
