H&M is at it again–they’ve made a women’s scarf that looks remarkably like a tallit, a Jewish prayer shawl mainly worn by men.
Fashion website Racked reported that the fast-fashion retailer is currently hawking a beige scarf with black stripes on its website for $17.99. “H&M even incorporated its own version of tzitzit, the knotted fringe you’ll find on every tallit,” the story noted. The Stockholm-based chain also has a matching fringed poncho for $34.99.
This isn’t H&M’s first foray into prayer-shawl chic. In 2011, they issued a similarly-styled women’s poncho. (Three years later, the brand was accused of anti-Semitism when it issued a tank top with a skull superimposed atop a Star of David.) H&M is not the only major fashion retailer to wade into Jewish (or anti-Semitic) territory. In the summer of 2014 the Spanish chain Zara sold a children’s striped “sheriff” T-shirt which looked very similar to a concentration-camp uniform, complete with a six-pointed yellow star on the left breast. During the ensuing social media storm the brand apologized and pulled the item from stores.
Full story here.