H&M comes under fire for new ad that features a young Black model with ‘messy’ hair

H&M has once again come under fire for a new ad that features children with messy hair.

One of the photos from the ad showed a young Black girl with her natural hair pulled into an undone ponytail as she modeled a floral printed sweatshirt. 

The controversial ad for H&M’s clothing line for kids also featured other children with messy hairstyles. 

Photos of the young girl began making its rounds on social media last Thursday, but it was celebrity hairstylist, Vernon François, who called out H&M for the problematic image.

François admitted that he did not have all the facts nor had he seen a statement from H&M; however, he wrote on Instagram that ‘it is essential that we have a conversation’ about the photo. 

This model's hairstyle has caused controversy on social media

H&M has once again come under fire for a new ad that features children with messy hair. One of the photos from the ad showed a young Black girl (left and right) with her natural hair pulled into an undone ponytail as she modeled a floral printed sweatshirt

Photos of the young girl began making its rounds on social media last Thursday, but it was celebrity hairstylist, Vernon François (Instagram post pictured), who called out H&M for the problematic image

Photos of the young girl began making its rounds on social media last Thursday, but it was celebrity hairstylist, Vernon François (Instagram post pictured), who called out H&M for the problematic image

‘This post is just an assessment based on all my years of seeing situations like this happen time and time again. And its got to stop. 

‘This beautiful young girl’s #kinky hair appears to have had very little to no attention yet all of her counterparts have clearly sat in front of someone who was more then capable of styling other hair textures,’ François wrote. 

François wrote that his ‘hear breaks imagining yet another girl from my community sitting in front of a mirror being ignored by the team around her, left to her own devices because someone didn’t know how to handle her texture’.

The stylist then pointed out that it was more than likely that the photograph had been ‘seen and APPROVED by countless “professionals”. Lets say conservatively 50 people’.

‘It’s breathtaking to me that not one person looked at this shot and had the same reaction that the internet seems to be feeling since the campaign broke. THAT IS AN ISSUE. We must do better. Our girls, our young women deserve better. Let this be a moment of learning,’ François wrote. 

Several people took to social media to slam the clothing line for ‘disrespectful’ ad.

Several people took to social media to slam the clothing line for 'disrespectful' ad

Several people took to social media to slam the clothing line for ‘disrespectful’ ad

‘Apparently @hm thinks allowing this African American young lady’s hair to look like this in their AD is acceptable! I find this disrespectful! This is a clear example that there are no people of color working at the higher level because they would have not allowed this,’ one person tweeted. 

Another wrote: ‘Excuse me @hm I just want to talk, because natural is fine but not doing her hair properly/at all is not…’

‘H&M AT IT AGAIN They wrong for that. Where the child mama? I hope she sue them for public humiliation, defamation of character, and discrimination. They could [have] had a stylist touch this child hair. Pathetic,’ another person tweeted. 

One Twitter user said that ‘no black mama finna have they child walkin out the door like that lol. It ain’t even about whether her edges need to be laid or not, but if sis hair can’t be *styled* back into a puffball they could’ve easily *styled* a lil fro’.

Though most people seemed upset that the child’s hair wasn’t styled better, others pointed out that all of the children had messy hair and it is very telling that out of all of them, people picked out the Black girl to ‘ridicule’.

Though most people seemed upset that the child's hair wasn't styled better, others pointed out that all of the children had messy hair and it is very telling that out of all of them, people picked out the Black girl to 'ridicule'

Though most people seemed upset that the child’s hair wasn’t styled better, others pointed out that all of the children had messy hair and it is very telling that out of all of them, people picked out the Black girl to ‘ridicule’

H&M released a statement on Twitter explaining the reasoning behind the kids campaign that featured the young girls with messy hair

H&M released a statement on Twitter explaining the reasoning behind the kids campaign that featured the young girls with messy hair

‘It’s very telling that you lot plucked the black girl out to ridicule her hair when all the other kids on the H&M site look like this. Says a lot about you tbh,’ one person wrote. 

A second user said the photo is ‘actually the best representation of black children. Good job @hm. She looks like the average black child. Her hair is as natural as it can be and i love it. Edges & Melanin are untouched and i am here for it’.

Another person shared: ‘All I hear black people complain about is “embracing them natural selves” this is natural. Stop picking and choosing what’s considered appropriate hair for african Americans just because she’s posted on H&M. Either embrace all natural or stop complaining when others don’t!’

H&M released a statement on Twitter explaining the reasoning behind the kids campaign that featured the young girls with messy hair. 

‘We are aware of the comments regarding one of our models for H&M Kids. We truly believe that all kids should be allowed to be kids. 

‘The school-aged kids who model for us come to the photo studio in the afternoon after school and we aim for a natural look which reflects that.’ the statement reads. 

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