- Designer Kelli Molczyk faces backlash for a garment with a patch resembling a swastika, Molczyk claims the symbol on her clothing was a misunderstanding
- Omaha Fashion Week responded to the incident and said the designer is banned from future shows.
- Whitney Hansen questioned why no one backstage intervened or removed the offensive garment.
Controversy on the runway, designer Kelli Molczyk is under fire after a social media post caught wind, showing one of her garments with what many believe to be a swastika on it. She says it's a big "misunderstanding" however, some spectators aren't convinced.
Watch Hannah's story:
"I felt completely disgusted that anyone even making a mistake would put such a blatant sign of violence and the death of millions of people on an article of clothing," said Whitney Hansen.
Hansen posted the viral Facebook post calling out Molczyk and demanding answers from Omaha Fashion Week. It has now been shared and reposted hundreds of times.
"Why didn't anyone else backstage say something? Why didn't somebody take the jacket and tear it apart or throw it in the trash? Why did somebody put that back on Kelly's rack? Why did the model standing behind her not say anything? Why did anyone out there let it go out for photos?" asked Hansen.
KMTV reporter Hannah McIlree wanted to get answers for Hansen, who was questioning how an article of clothing that appeared to have a swastika on it could make it to the runway. So McIlree met with OFW owner Brook Hudson.
"When our staff does that final check they start all the way over here. And they walk down a line of up to 150 models and they look at each garment. And they're supposed to be looking for things like safety issues," said Hudson, "They look for things that are offensive and they look at the styling to make sure it's a good show. And so we may need to, this particular designer that we're talking about was a headlining designer. When you're a headliner, you're more seasoned. This isn't your first rodeo and, with those folks, we do tend to trust them."
Hudson told me three weeks before the show designers are required to participate in rack check. This is when selection panelists make sure designs are runway-appropriate. Hudson said not all of Molczyk's designs were viewed at rack check because she was a headlining designer.
"When the model turned. The whole production team was like on text like oh my gosh that's a swastika we've got to remove that immediately so I believe the pusher or one of our other volunteers backstage just. Ripped the ripped the jacket off of her and sent her back out without the jacket because each look in Omaha Fashion Week actually appears on the runway 3 times," said Hudson.
After the event,
OFW issued an apology to staff and attendees. The show producer also took to Facebook and said that Molczyk would not be invited back.:
"The image is triggering for many people. As much as we say our community does not allow hate speech and we don’t allow bullying, people will slip things through. We stop them as soon as we know about it."
Molczyk is the former Senior Vice President of Women's Merchandising for Buckle, Hudson said for the last few years she's also had an active role during fashion week as a selection panelist, however, this was her first year showing a collection of her own.
KMTV contacted Molczyk about the jacket she said all her materials are up-cycled and that this is a "misunderstanding" and said in a statement:
"The design for the outfit at Omaha Fashion Week came from an antique pinwheel quilt remnant that I purchased from a well-known store in Central Nebraska two years ago."
Hudson said OFW is still determining what extra precautions need to be made, but in the future, all garments will be heavily vetted.
