ladbible logo

To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

​H&M Apologises After 'Coolest Monkey In The Jungle' Hoody Is Branded 'Racist'

​H&M Apologises After 'Coolest Monkey In The Jungle' Hoody Is Branded 'Racist'

The image appeared on the retail company's UK website, and has since been labelled as 'racist', 'offensive' and 'irresponsible'

Jess Hardiman

Jess Hardiman

Kids' clothing has come under fire recently for reinforcing gender stereotypes - something that even led John Lewis to remove 'boys' and 'girls' labels and introduce a gender-neutral line.

But now it seems it's not just the whole sugar-and-spice message that's causing offence, with high street giant H&M coming under fire after an image of a black child modelling a hoody with the slogan 'Coolest Monkey In The Jungle' surfaced.

H&M

The image was shared on social media after it appeared on the retail company's UK website, being labelled as 'racist', 'offensive' and 'irresponsible' by some people.

The top also came with another slogan of 'Mangrove Jungle Survival Expert', which was modelled by a white child.

The product on the website now shows the item without either of the models.



Blogger Stephanie Yeboah shared the image on Twitter, saying: "Whose idea was it at @hm to have this little sweet black boy wear a jumper that says 'coolest monkey in the jungle'? I mean. What."

She even found herself having to defend her comments, after other Twitter users criticised her for flagging the hoody as problematic.


Despite the widespread criticism of the hoody, not everyone saw issue with the image, with some people defending the Swedish chain by saying it was simply 'an innocent mistake'.

An H&M spokeswoman said: "This image has now been removed from all H&M channels and we apologise to anyone this may have offended."

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: UK News, News