Oh Uh-Uh: That time a Black Model refused to wear monkey ears and lips

Bennett Raglin / Getty

It is the year of our Lord, 2020, and we are still having to explain how racist tropes are awful.

Enter New York Fashion Week, because not one of those can go by without some racist incident.

Amy Lefevre, a black model says she was pressured to wear a "racist," monkey-like costume" during the Fashion Institute of Technology's runway event in New York City.

This costume included large prosthetic ears, lips and overgrown eyebrows, which basically makes the wearer look like a monkey.

"As soon as I saw the pieces, I started shaking. I felt it was very racist," Amy told TODAY Style. "I made it clear that I was uncomfortable."

Amy says that, when she initially complained to the producer, Richard Thornn, he replied, "it’s only 45 seconds. It’s fine to feel uncomfortable for 45 seconds."

Bennett Raglin / Getty Images

Unlike a pair of high heels or awkward clothing, forcing a model to wear an unnecessary costume that was offensive to her was not merely "uncomfortable for 45 seconds", its racist and discriminatory.

Amy ended up walking in the Feb. 7 show without the accessories. "I was so mad," she said.

The outfits were designed by recent FIT graduate Junkai Huang, who also has yet to release a statement. Richard Thornn couldn't be reached for comment. The show’s director, Jonathan Kyle Farmer, apologized in an email sent to TODAY Style, beginning with the customary "It was never our intent", of course:

"It was never our intent for the show’s styling to be interpreted as racist or to make people feel uncomfortable,” the FIT professor wrote. “But I now fully understand why this has happened. I take full responsibility and am committed to learning from this situation and taking steps to do better."

FIT President Joyce F. Brown shared a lengthy statement, saying that there will be an "ongoing investigation", and noting she will "put in place safeguards to ensure a situation like this does not happen again."

"Regrettably, we failed in this instance to recognize a creative statement that could have negative consequences," Brown wrote. "There is no room for error, which can be interpreted as racism, homophobia, religious intolerance or any kind of bigotry."

But, as we have seen multiple times in fashion, in particular, apologies do not equate to actions. Just because numerous statements, explanations, and apologies have come from this incident does not mean changes will be made. Again, another example of where inclusion could have saved this organization and designer not only the bad press but now the bad reputation and this model the heartache of dealing with a literal institution's racism.

Fashion houses, take note, we aren't putting up with the bigotry, blatant or otherwise, any longer.