Posted on by Yizhou Meng

Central Saint Martins has apologised twice for publishing controversial student projects on their Instagram stories. 

The content posted on the official Instagram account of the institute’s fashion and textiles foundation course included an image of a student holding a banner standing at the door of H&M and Coach, calling for a boycott of fast fashion and the phrase, ‘Made in China £0 Worth’. Another piece was a representation of the Qing Dynasty flag and braid. 

The posts captioned with high-five emojis offended members of the Chinese student body, who regarded the posts as culturally insensitive. 

Another banner featured pro-Hong Kong protest slogans: “光復香港，時代革命” which translates to “Liberate Hong Kong, the revolution of our times.” 

Both posts were criticised by Chinese students and fashion alum, before the posts were deleted and an apology  issued via Instagram story.

Rachel Dickson, dean of academic programmes at the college said: “We agree that it was not appropriate to publish images on our Instagram account without fully identifying the cultural sensitivities embedded in them and the debates surrounding the works’ production and exhibition.”

She also said that the current priority of the institute as a part of the University of the Arts London is “actively engaged in understanding and tackling our own institutional biases and cultural prejudices”.

“The students have created banners which visualise their manifesto. It’s come to our attention that two of the banners may have caused offense and for that, we’d like to apologise. ”

The statement continued: “The groups of people who made the works weren’t being derogatory, but we understand that without seeing the prep work and development, the banner itself can be taken out of context.” 

A second apology

Following the initial apology, more than 90 Chinese students and graduates,  including Angel Chen and Xuzhi Chen, wrote an open letter to Grayson Perry, chancellor of the University of the Arts London. They argued that the first apology was not sincere and called for another public apology. 

“The graphics in the projects: the elements flag of the Qing dynasty, queue hairstyle and ‘Made in China £0 Worth’ slogan is insulting,” The letter read “When the school account reposted them, it added multiple praise emojis. It conveyed a clear message that the school approved the value and message these artworks embody. ”

Central Saint Martins issued an official apology on Twitter on November 15 and emailed an apology to handful of Chinese alumni. The head of the UAL International Admissions Office also sent an apology and clarification in letter to all representative offices in China.

 The  incident had sparked debate on Chinese social media, with many expressing anger at fashion institute’s  “irresponsible behavior”.