Converse has issued a public apology after an image from its latest Chuck 70 X campaign drew comparisons to Ku Klux Klan hoods and lynching imagery, with calls to boycott the Nike-owned sneaker brand spreading across social media this week.
The Converse ad controversy traces back to “Stars Align With KARINA,” the global campaign fronted by aespa star KARINA that launched alongside the Chuck 70 X on Aug. 27. In the photo, the K-pop singer wears an oversized white skirt while holding a second pair of black high-tops at her side. The shadow of Converse’s five-pointed star stretches up the white fabric of her skirt in a sharp, pointed shape many readers compared to a Klansman’s hood, while the shadow hides her arm in a way that leaves the shoes appearing to dangle beside it — a composition some compared to a hanging body.
The backlash built quickly on Threads, where actress Yvette Nicole Brown asked, “That’s a lynching, yes?” before adding, “AND a Klan robe.” Photographer Zach Berger and other users echoed the reading, while others dismissed the outrage as an unfortunate optical illusion — pareidolia rather than intent. Calls to boycott the brand grew overnight as the debate spread.
A second image was pulled into the same wave: a shot from the Converse x Palmes collaboration, which launched around Sept. 14, showing a person standing on a ladder beside a tree while holding sneakers overhead.
Converse responded with a statement to Footwear News and theGrio: “We’re sorry. We understand why this image is deeply upsetting and recognize that we got this wrong. We removed it from our channels and are working to remove it everywhere it appeared. This should not have happened, and we will do better.” According to WWD, the image was still visible on the brand’s Threads account as of the magazine’s report.
Some defenders noted the photo first circulated through Converse Malaysia and stars a Korean celebrity, arguing the reading says more about American history than the ad itself. But KARINA is a global brand ambassador, the Chuck 70 X launched worldwide, and a global campaign is judged by a global audience. The criticism also lands at a sensitive moment, amid renewed attention this year to cases of Black Americans found hanging, and against the sneaker brand’s long, celebrated ties to Black sports and youth culture.
It is the latest entry in fashion’s long history of campaign missteps, following H&M’s 2018 “Coolest Monkey in the Jungle” hoodie and Gucci’s 2019 balaclava sweater. The episode lands in a busy stretch for brand marketing, too: Gap and A.P.C. just launched a 37-piece collaboration, while Calvin Klein’s Spring 2027 reveal has kept fashion campaigns in the headlines.
Sources
Thought Catalog — Critics Say Two Different Converse Ads Evoke KKK Hood and Lynching Imagery
Featured image: Tirza van Dijk, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
