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Someone called the fashion police.
A local Nebraska fashion week is getting a lot of attention due to a jacket that appeared to have a design of a swastika.
Designer Kelli Molczyk came under immediate fire after the outerwear was seen on the Omaha Fashion Week runway in late February — and now she’s claiming it’s a misunderstanding.
“The design for the outfit at Omaha Fashion Week came from an antique pinwheel quilt remnant that I purchased from a well-known store in Central Nebraska two years ago,” she wrote in a statement on Instagram.
“At no point did I believe the pinwheel pattern represented or depicted a swastika, nor was it ever my intent to design the outfit with a swastika.”
Omaha Fashion Week owner Brook Hudson admitted to local outlet KMTV that staff does a final walkthrough before the show, looking for things like safety issues and “things that are offensive” — but they put their trust in Molczyk.
She added that three weeks prior to the show, designers are required to submit their garments for review, checking to make sure their pieces are appropriate — and not all of Molczyk’s designs were viewed because she was a headliner.
“This particular designer that we’re talking about was a headlining designer. When you’re a headliner, you’re more seasoned. This isn’t your first rodeo and, with those folks, we do tend to trust them,” Hudson said.
Hudson’s team immediately saw the issue when the models hit the runway.
“When the model turned, the whole production team was like on text like ‘oh my gosh that’s a swastika we’ve got to remove that immediately,’” Hudson said.
Ohama Fashion Week’s producer took to Facebook to release a statement on the situation last week, saying that they were “appalled at the sight of a hate symbol walking on the runway.”
“The image is triggering for many people. As much as we say our community does not allow hate speech and we don’t allow bullying, people will slip things through. We stop them as soon as we know about it,” they wrote.
“The designer, who was also a panelist, was removed from her position and told she was not allowed to return for the remaining events.”
Molczyk is no longer allowed to return to the OFW runway or to her panelist position, the statement reiterated.
“I have never been a part of a hate organization, and I condemn, in the strongest terms, the swastika and any form of hate speech or conduct,” Molczyk ended her statement. “To associate me with any such acts of hate or hate groups is reprehensible and defamatory.”
Hudson added that OFW is now determining exactly what precautions need to be taken, but all pieces will be heavily vetted in the future.
