Dolls Kill addresses Black Lives Matter support after owner’s protest post

Earlier this week, people began calling for a boycott of fashion brand Dolls Kill following the owner’s comment on the Black Lives Matter protests. Shoddy Lynn shared an image of her storefront in Los Angeles surrounded by police with a caption allegedly in support of the officers.

Now after the continued backlash, the brand is sharing a statement to hold themselves accountable for being too slow “to show their support of Black Lives Matter” and their plans moving forward.

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On May 31, Lynn shared a photo of a line of police officers in front of the Dolls Kill LA store with the caption “Direct Action in its glory” using the Black Lives Matter hashtag. The post was screenshotted and shared by Elijah Daniel among others.

Soon after, Lynn’s account went private, and the company’s Instagram page shared three black squares captioned with “We stand in solidarity.” Each post had a hashtag representing three black citizens who have recently died at the hands of police: Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.

Now, Dolls Kill is elaborating on their initial statement and saying they “fucked up” by not posting more quickly.

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This isn’t the first Dolls Kills had claims of racism against them. There have been several instances of displaying unapologetic cultural appropriation in the past. The brand broadly touches on past outrage in the new statement by writing while they haven’t been “outspoken on issues” shared by their customers, they have reportedly taken the steps necessary internally.

This time, Dolls Kill states they’re pledging to purchase $1 million worth of product from black-owned designers and brands with a portion of proceeds to be donated to Black Lives Matter. You can see their full statement below.

We fucked up. We should have been quicker [and] louder.

You are right to be upset with us—we were slow to show our support of Black Lives Matter and we should have done more.

Dolls Kill is a company, but first [and] foremost, a collective of misfits who work [to] make this brand what it is, [and] we need to make some things clear. We [at] Dolls Kill condemn racism, police brutality, violence, bigotry and hate.

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In the past, we haven’t been outspoken on issues. When customers have spoken out, we’ve responded by fixing it from the inside—cutting ties with vendors, pulling items from the site and being more inclusive. We’ve never spoken publicly, because as a fashion brand, it never felt like our place. But we’ve learned that silence is complicit. It’s not excusable. We hear [you.] We will change.

We will do whatever we can as a brand to hold ourselves accountable. Dolls Kill is committing $1 million to purchase products from black-owned fashion brands and designers to feature on our site. Please suggest your favorite brands in our comments section. We will donate a portion of the proceeds to #BlackLivesMatter

https://www.instagram.com/p/CA6u5yrp_tp/

To show support through donations, connect with grassroots campaigns and obtain resources for allies, please refer to the links below.

Help the family of George Floyd here.
Fight for Breonna Taylor here.
Help the family of Ahmaud Arbery here.
To sign petitions for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and more, click here.

Donate to one or more community bail funds for protesters here.
Click here for more resources for protestors including pro-bono lawyers.
Visit Movement For Black Lives for additional ways you can help the cause.
Click here to connect with leaders building grassroots campaigns.
Here are some anti-racism resources for allies who want to learn more.

For other ways to donate, please head here.