Zara Pulls Children's T-Shirt After Complaints It Resembles Holocaust Prisoner Uniform

It's striped with a six-pronged badge

By Emily Popp Aug 27, 2014 4:09 PMTags
Zara Holocaust, Sheriff ShirtZara

Spanish retailer Zara has yanked a children's T-shirt from its shelves Wednesday, after a wave of criticism that the shirt resembled uniforms worn by inmates in Nazi concentration camps during the Holocaust.

The shirt is designed for kids ages 3 months to 3 years and features horizontal stripes with a six-pronged yellow star over the left breast.

The top was meant to be inspired by the Wild West, and when looked at closely, you can faintly read the words "Sheriff" over the star, but to many the combination of the stripes and yellow badge too closely resembles Holocaust prisoner uniforms.

And this isn't the first time Zara has been in this position. Back in 2007 the company was forced to pull one of its embroidered handbags that featured a print of flowers, bicycles and four green swastikas—one in each corner of the bag.

Urban Outfitters faced similar criticism in 2012 when it ultimately pulled a shirt with a six-pointed star from its website after sparking controversy for resembling a Holocaust uniform.

After Zara came under fire for its design, the retailer quickly pulled the shirt and issued a statement via Twitter. "The item in question has now been removed from sale. The garment was inspired by the classic Western films, but we now recognize that the design could be seen as insensitive and apologize sincerely for any offence caused to our customers."