Urban Outfitters, which you may know as a slightly hipper Old Navy, has been in a lot of headlines lately for its headlong dive into the deep sea of insensitivity. Its last major offense was its blood splattered Kent State sweatshirt, but Urban Outfitters is not resting on its laurels when there are entire cultures to offend.
To that end, they are throwing a staff Christmas party in which everyone is being asked to dress up in some sort of vague approximation of Oriental culture, asking staff to attend in their “juttis, kurtas, turbans, saris, lehenga cholis and harem pants.” Yikes. You would think a brand so proud of its “progressive” nature would know better than to email out such an obviously offensive dress code, but then, Urban Outfitters has showed a shocking lack of awareness over the past few years (one that has taken a financial toll as well). The ink isn’t even dry on our 2014 Cultural Appropriation Index, and we’ve already got a new contender …