Kim Kardashian West has finally broken her social media silence after her new label Kimono was met with outrage last week. A huge number of Japanese people responded to the news, which was broken in a series of Instagram posts, by calling West out for her ‘cultural insensitivity’ and disrespecting both their culture a hugely symbolic garment imbued with hundreds of years of history.
Taking to both Twitter and Instagram this afternoon, West explained in a series of posts that she will now being renaming the shapewear line, claiming she had ‘the best of intentions’ in mind when she came up with Kimono – which appeared to be a play on her name, but spawned the hashtag #KimOhNo.
The entrepreneur went on to tell followers she was grateful for their feedback, and thankful that she has a ‘direct line of communication’ with them.
“I am always listening, learning, and growing – so I appreciate the passion and varied perspectives that people bring to me,” she continued, before concluding in a final post: “My brand and products are built with inclusivity and diversity at their core and after careful thought and consideration, I will be launching my Solutionwear under a new name.”
West’s response comes just two days after the Mayor of Kyoto, Daisaku Kadokawa, issued an open letter imploring her to reconsider her new venture’s title, and emphasising the cultural importance of the actual kimono itself.
Whether it was her fans and detractors alike’s angry Tweets or Kadokawa’s reasoning that changed her mind, we’re glad to see West has listened to what people had to say and made the move to rectify her mistakes – though for now both Instagram and Twitter are still displaying the @kimono handle. Watch this space for option B.
