What in the actual f*ck, Urban Outfitters? According to Buzzfeed, until 2:15 a.m. this morning (when the item was sold for the bargain price of $129), the douche-hipster beloved retail chain’s website was selling a “vintage” Kent State University sweatshirt, complete with blood spatters. If you’ll recall, in May of 1970, National Guardsmen responded to a turbulent Vietnam War protest by firing at unarmed students — killing four and wounding nine others. It’s unclear if the blood spatter on the garment was authentic, but I’m guessing it was added later for “flair,” as a clothing company might sell “distressed” or pre-broken in clothing.
The internet predictably did not take well to the item listing:
Urban Outfitters explores the outer reaches of bad taste. http://t.co/gxQnWAvCuS pic.twitter.com/GX7l8NT251
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) September 15, 2014
https://twitter.com/danadearmond/status/511373052890714112
https://twitter.com/cjzanoni/status/511375170045362176
@UrbanOutfitters are you serious w/that Kent State sweatshirt? It is appalling to think that someone at your company thought that was cool.
— MónicaCarmen (@mohneekahcarmen) September 15, 2014
Good job, Urban Outfitters. Maybe next they can get their hands on a Columbine football jersey or a Sandy Hook t-shirt or even an Aurora Century movie theater stub. They can probably just shellack it and put it on a chain and sell it as a necklace! The possibilities of exploiting tragedies in the name of fashion are endless, really.