Victoria's Secret issues apology for Native American headdress worn by Karlie Kloss in the VS Fashion Show

Victoria’s Secret issues apology for Native American headdress worn by Karlie Kloss in the VS Fashion Show

Nov, 10, 2012 | AUTHOR: Asa Hawks; | Related : Karlie Kloss, Lingerie

It’s pretty difficult to distract attention from the body of a super model wearing skimpy, sexy lingerie, but that’s exactly what happened during Wednesday night’s annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show when Karlie Kloss strutted the runway in animal print bra and panties with turquoise jewelry and a feathered Native America headdress!

Yep, fresh on the heels of No Doubt pulling their cowboys-and-Indians-themed music video for “Looking Hot,” Victoria’s Secret has found themselves in a bit of hot water. Angry commenters flooded the site’s Facebook page, and earlier tonight the clothing company issued an official apology:

We are sorry that the Native American headdress replica used in our recent fashion show has upset individuals.

We sincerely apologize as we absolutely had no intention to offend anyone.

Out of respect, we will not be including the outfit in any broadcast, marketing materials nor in any other way.

Here’s a full-length shot of Karlie Kloss on the runway:

Karlie Kloss in feathered Native America headdress Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2012

Victoria’s Secret is no stranger to crossing the taste line, having recently come under fire for their “Sexy Little Geisha” sheer teddy ensemble.

Click to enlarge:

So what do you think? Was the use of a Native American headdress in a lingerie fashion show in bad taste?

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KVZ

ive seen worse in todays day and age, i doubt they meant any serious harm. its victoria secret for sakes!
tab

why do people even bother to think about doing anything “native american” anymore. they were mad at gwen steffani a couple of weeks ago, too. people have to know that if it’s not honoring the native american culture, they’re going to get their panties in a twist about it. just don’t even go there!
- Edgar Briones Palomo
  
  fck’em if they can’t take a joke
Kait

I don’t understand why people get so upset about such trivial things.
- JosephLamour
  
  Because if someone dressed up as a sexy nun in one of these things, a lot more people in this country would be mad. And the war bonnet is just as an important symbol.
- http://www.facebook.com/sean.dorsey.73 Sean Dorsey
  
  It is a publicity stunt bu Victoria’s Secret! They paid the pictures to be in newspapers and issued apologies even before there were complaints or a controversy! The only controversy here is how an ugly girl like Karlie Kloss got in the show!
  - Andrea
    
    Karlie is everything but ugly, i don’t understand how a person with such a bad taste is even looking Victoria’s secret show!
- b.honey
  
  my heritage is not trivial. do you have a connection to your ancestry? if so, have they ever been made fun of and put down? it’s not really a great feeling.
cryaboutit

I think people need to chill the f out. It’s art. Art pushes buttons and sometimes offends. Just f-ing chill.
wah wah

People get butt hurt over everything. Get over it.
ashley

I’m sorry but this just seems like a stupid trivial thing to get so upset about! The girl and the headpiece are gorgeous….now the girl isn’t even going to be seen in the show when it airs?? That sucks…they should take something like this as a compliment not something negative
Paige

Our country is in dispare and the east coast just experienced a horrible hurricane and needs help to rebuild and people are worried about a freaking Native American headdress. I don’t even understand what the hell the big deal is. It’s gorgeous and looks amazing like what is the problem. I’d be more worried about the lack of material in the bra & panties vs a headdress. GET OVER IT.
- Tyya
  
  the ppl on the east coast are w/o power but i remember the other yr it happened on crow creek and they never got on cnn, nobody gave a shyt then… instead it was about haiti.. another point that this country is still has no respect on native american culture
Eddie

In Native American culture you have to earn the right to wear a war bonnet. This is what you all fail to see. There is nothing trivial about my culture.
- gabjuliette
  
  YES!!! thank you!! All these hurtful comments are so upsetting. The Native Head dress is sacred . Now we love & respect others, we just want the sane love& respect back to us , & our culture .
- supacb
  
  So is it offensive to dress up as a Native American for Halloween? Because a lot of people do that. I’m just curious….
  - JosephLamour
    
    Dressing up as another race trivializes that race, basically, if that makes sense. If I, a black person, dressed up as a white person for Halloween, would that offend you? Or, conversely, if someone white went in blackface?
    - Mlaen
      
      nope not for one second i would think it actually to be pretty cool, why because i don’t care about if you dress as a white guy, i might even find it funny. However that being said i do agree with you and the way Natives are portrayed as savages as being wrong. At the same token white man is being shown as a scum if we are talking about, lets say movies… The whole idea of why women’s clothing is over sexualized, but than again for halloween every costume is, don’t like it don’t wear it. Western society has a fantasy with anything exotic, and sex sells. The headdress is a sacred item and only awarded to brave men doing a great act in battle, correct….so no women….but besides that without picking a fight why are they being sold and replicated by some and i said some Natives? Don’t answer that i just wanted to say that yes i AGREE with YOU its not a joke or funny portraying different cultures in a negative way, but at the same time our society has become very sensitive in regards to simple and innocent things. I am sure VC wasn’t trying to portray any savagery here.
  - Sara
    
    Yes it is. A race is not a costume that you get to take off at the end of the night. Those costumes continue the stereotype of Native people being savages. Especially when you consider how sexualized the women’s costumes are along with the face that Native women have a rate of sexual assault at like 3x the national average (80-90% of which is done by non-Native men) it’s sickening to see.
Ecarb

sexualizing any culture especially one that has one of the highest rates of sexual assault perpetuated by non natives against native women is beyond offensive. It is not trivial- it is not getting butt hurt- its just wrong. And it is OK to call out a corporation that should know better. This is a time and age where people should understand history and understand why that is NOT ok. This wasn’t a child that made this mistake- it is a multi national corporation- the insensitivity to an entire culture and race is inexcusable.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000540514151 Teresa Harris

Stop thinking of it as a religious headdress for and think of it as a symbol of valor. Would you ever, for one moment, consider wearing a Purple Heart that you did not earn? But what if your great-great grandfather was a veteran? What if you were doing it to honor the military? The point is, you didn’t earn the Purple Heart. You don’t have the right to put it on, you’re not honoring the military. It’s belittling the sacrifice made by those who sacrificed everything. That is how we see people who have no business wearing a headdress playing so carelessly with something that has meaning.
Debbi Mahoney

Face it….society is so bent on denial of the past that they are still desperately grasping to the centuries worth of c.y.a (cover yo ass) lies. Until they can accept that NDNs are alive and well and still pissed off…..they are gonna try to perpetuate the good ol negative stereotypes that make them feel good. That is the core of the white privilege……its all about how THEY feel, how it affects THEM…….as long it is all good then they don’t have to recognize and respect.
Colleen

I’m of Irish heritage, so now I’m going to get mad every time some body dresses up like a leprechaun.
Kaleigh

So, Victoria’s Secret is filled with models that are twigs and being an influence for younger girls to be skinny, and all the hype over being half naked on stage, and all you people are worried about is a woman wearing a hat with a bunch of feathers from the dollar store or ripped unwillingly from a mammals skin glued together? Get your shit together. You nativesK get free school, a land to live on
- Leighanne
  
  um yeah…. white people TOOK the land from Native Americans. WE should be the ones LUCKY to have land to live on. not the other way around.
  - Sara
    
    In other words, who gives a f? Get over it. Indians seem to have a real bad problem with holding onto things they should get over
  - JohnWest
    
    Ya but in exchange we gave the indians casinos, cars, health care, airplanes and much much more. Get a life.
- JohnWest
  
  Encourage women to be thin is what Moochelle is all about. it’s good to not be obese. Go Victoria.
- Molly
  
  The USA is actually responsible for one of the largest genocides on record and the victims of that genocide were the American Indians/native Americans. Not only that, but a lot of Native Americans still live in god awful conditions and subjected to a lot of racism. We didn’t give them anything in return for their land except disease, rape, forced marches, slaughter, kidnapping, enslavement, forced re-education of their children, and attempts to completely wipe away their culture. You can say they need to get over it, but I don’t think some shitty reservations and a few casinos really make up for what happened to them.
  - Mladen
    
    Serious, what about Africans, or Japanese…..
    The British with India and China,
    
    Japan to China
    Mongolia to China
    Germany to Europe
    Spain to America
    
    Just keeps going and going…. so i guess in 2013 we should all be apologizing every single day for what our ancestors did 100s of years ago…. people need to relax it happened nothing can be done about that, this was not a case of someone making fun of a culture, which happens all the time in movies that people still go and see and they are box office hits…Its gonna be okay i am sure the Natives will be able to to continue their lives even thou VS had a model wear a headdress..
kristi

it is not appropriate , however i do adore her shoes !!
jomota

So Indians get offended and mouth off enough to get an apology for a hottie wearing an indian headress.

But dressing up as sexy angels is OK. Christians should not get offended.

OK…I get it.

One thing I have found out about people is that anyone who looks to get offended, probably will get offended.

Indians, like Arabs, would do themselves a world of good by moving into the 21st century
http://www.facebook.com/sky.west.589 Sky West

Everything is offensive. Yawn.
◔_◔
- JohnWest
  
  I find that comment …. offensive. Hahahahaha
  - http://www.facebook.com/sky.west.589 Sky West
    
    LOL!
Storyteller

What would your reaction be if some person wore a CMO (Congressional Medal of Honor) they did not earn for the purpose of having people give them money and / or fame because of their service to their country? Beyond race, beyond cultural appropriation, beyond the serious social consequences of sex crimes perpetrated against native women (mostly by non-native men), that is a fundamental issue with actions such as this.
JohnWest

Indian culture is a joke. It’s now about casinos and welfare. Get a life. Indians should be flattered that VS used their image in such a tasteful and beautiful way. No tolerance for VS show, no tolerance for Indians. And about the sacred head dresses …. how many Eagles must die to make one?
- Callie
  
  I couldn’t agree more
Edgar Briones Palomo

this is all BS. Native american Indians dress like white people all the time and they don’t get accused of racism, you need to be more tolerant or spread your culture so more people will know how to address it.

Or is it the real deal, did they bought a real headdress and use it as a prop?
http://www.facebook.com/BrookeDeere Brooke Deere

I dont thinknits in anyway an insult