Diet Prada

Diet Prada is an Instagram account and fashion watchdog group. Created in 2014 by two then-anonymous founders, the account's owners were identified in 2017 as fashion industry professionals Tony Liu and Lindsey Schuyler.[1] Originally created as a lighthearted way to call out similarities in designs, beginning in 2018 the account became a more serious voice in campaigning for integrity and accountability within the fashion industry.[2][3] In addition to highlighting copied designs, Diet Prada has drawn attention to cultural appropriation and lack of diversity in publishing and fashion companies.[1] As of March 2022, the account had more than three million followers.

Diet Prada
Formation2014 (2014)
PurposeFashion watchdog group
Key people
Tony Liu and Lindsey Schuyler
Websitedietprada.com

History

2018 Dolce & Gabbana fashion show
See also: Dolce & Gabbana § Shanghai event promotion video

In November 2018, the account drew attention to a Dolce & Gabbana video advertisement promoting their major upcoming fashion show, called "The Great Show," that was scheduled to occur in Shanghai.[4] Featuring a Chinese model struggling to eat Italian foods with a pair of chopsticks, the advertisement was criticized as racist.[4][5] Several hours before The Great Show was scheduled to begin, Diet Prada shared screenshots of direct messages alleged to be from Stefano Gabbana, in which he appeared to denigrate China and Chinese people.[4] The post quickly went viral in China and the hashtag #boycottdolce began to trend. Hundreds of Chinese individuals scheduled to appear in the show withdrew, and the show was eventually canceled. Apologies were later posted to the Dolce & Gabbana account, and claims were made that both Gabbana's personal Instagram account and the brand account had been hacked.[4][5] Diet Prada later described the incident in an interview with Fast Company as a moment when they realized they had the ability to effect major change within the fashion industry.[2]

Founders

Tony Liu and Lindsey Schuyler met when they worked together at the American accessories line Eugenia Kim.[2] By 2015, they had both left the brand but they kept in touch. [6] The two would browse photographs of runway shows, noticing similarities between the pieces and older designs, and created their Diet Prada Instagram account in 2014 "just for fun".[2][7] They remained anonymous for the first three years of the account's existence, eventually revealing their identities in an October 2017 feature in The Fashion Law.[7]

Tony Liu

Liu was born in New York City and earned a fine arts degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.[3][7] As of October 2017 he ran a menswear brand called YOU AS.[7] In 2016, YOU AS was listed by Highsnobiety as an "upcoming" brand.[8] YOU AS launched a Spring 2018 collection. Vogue described Liu's motivations behind the collection as his own take on "the seedy cool of Las Vegas, à la Tom Wolfe and Hunter S. Thompson, without falling victim to its cheesy ick factor".[9]

Lindsey Schuyler

Schuyler grew up in Saint Augustine, Florida and was a designer for the eyewear company FGXI.[3][7] She owns and runs a consulting practice.[6]

Monetization

Diet Prada earns much of its revenue through sales of merchandise. They also partner with brands and institutions such as museums who want them to cover fashion exhibits.[2] They have done takeovers of Instagram accounts of other brands, such as Gucci.[2][3]

Reaction

The Business of Fashion described Diet Prada in May 2018 as "the most feared Instagram account" for the repercussions that have been faced by brands it has criticized.[1][10] Fast Company described Diet Prada in May 2019 as "one of the most influential voices in the fashion industry right now."[2]

GQ wrote an article about them where they gave a platform to their readers, writing that some believe that "we've moved past Diet Prada because no one holds Diet Prada accountable".[11]

Diet Prada has been criticized for allegedly giving preferential treatment to brands with whom it has collaborated. Some brands and individuals who have been criticized by Diet Prada have described receiving angry and sometimes threatening comments from the account's followers for long periods of time. Diet Prada has been described as an example of "cancel culture."[3]

References
  1. Tashjian, Rachel (July 1, 2020). "In Fashion, Who Will Cancel the Cancelers?". GQ. Archived from the original on 2020-07-01. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  2. Farley, Amy (May 22, 2019). "How the Diet Prada cofounders became the fashion industry's most influential watchdogs". Fast Company. Archived from the original on 2019-05-22. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  3. Bromwich, Jonah Engel (March 14, 2019). "We're All Drinking Diet Prada Now". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  4. Munzenrieder, Kyle (November 21, 2018). "How Dolce & Gabbana's Shanghai Show Went From Spectacle to Cancellation". W. Archived from the original on 2018-11-21. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  5. Xu, Yuhan (December 1, 2018). "Dolce & Gabbana Ad (With Chopsticks) Provokes Public Outrage in China". National Public Radio. Archived from the original on 2018-12-01. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  6. Falquez, Camila. "Tony Liu & Lindsey Schuyler". Business of Fashion. Archived from the original on 2019-04-22. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  7. "Meet Tony Liu and Lindsey Schuyler: The Duo Behind Diet Prada". The Fashion Law. October 19, 2017. Archived from the original on 2020-07-12. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  8. Leach, Alec (2016). "UNDER THE RADAR | 6 UPCOMING BRANDS TO CHECK OUT THIS MONTH". High Snobiety. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  9. Carter, Lee (July 13, 2017). "YOU AS". Vogue. Archived from the original on 2017-07-17. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  10. Sherman, Lauren (May 8, 2018). "Diet Prada Unmasked". The Business of Fashion. Archived from the original on 2018-05-14. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  11. Tashjian, Rachel (July 1, 2020). "In Fashion, Who Will Cancel the Cancelers?". Gentlemen's Quarterly. Archived from the original on 2020-07-01. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
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