The following is excerpted from an article in Vibe.
The fashion world was turned upside down recently when the artist Raury was asked to walk down the runway in Milan, Italy, during “Mens’ Fashion Week”. Raury told the magazine GQ he was invited to take part in the designers’ Spring-Summer ’18 millennial-themed runway show. Raury said he did a little research on the D&G brand he was asked to wear the day before the show and discovered their strong allegiance to Melania Trump.
D&G heads Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana faced public scrutiny for dressing Trump, and even released a $245 t-shirt mocking the outcry against their association with Trump, which read, “Boycott Dolce & Gabbana.” They didn’t stop there as D&G released an ad with teens pretending to protest the brand.
Fueled with the new information 24 hours before he was set to walk in the show, Raury explained how he was personally offended by D&G. “It was a troll. Me, as a young man from Stone Mountain, Georgia, the birthplace of the Klu Klux Klan, I really felt this mockery of boycotting,” he said. “Who knows, if boycotts didn’t happen, if Rosa Parks and M.L.K. didn’t step up…who knows if I would even exist. Boycotting matters. Boycotting is real. Dolce’s entire campaign says it’s not real. I know that if I walk out there and support or endorse anything that sits next to Trump—or support someone who even makes dinner for Trump or whatever—then that means that I support Trump also. I have to let people know that I don’t support Trump and I don’t support those who are trying to undermine the voice of the people.”
In the final moments of the show, Raury took of his D&G garb, baring his skin with the notes, “PROTEST”, “DG GIVE ME FREEDOM,” and “I AM NOT YOUR SCAPEGOAT” on his chest. “I felt like Dolce & Gabbana was literally trying to use the youth to wash their hands of any sort of heat from anyone who wants to protest against them,” he said. “They’re using the shit out of us. We’re not scapegoats. You are not about to wash your hands with us.”
At the end the show, the “Devil’s Whisper” artist hopped of stage, left the clothes behind and tried to leave the building. Raury is hopeful that his stance is seen by those who know their power in their influence. “Show your true colors. And if you show your true colors, shit like this might happen to you,” he said. “That’s just the truth. If your message is cool, then it’s cool. But if it ain’t, millennials are going to come and let you know. And we won’t let up.”