London luxury department store Harrods has removed a £680 ($895) Vetements hoodie from its website after customers discovered the garment — described as carrying a "Georgian slogan" — actually says something approximating “Go fuck yourself” in Russian.
The original description of the item reads, “Inspired by the desire to face and conquer the negative memories surrounding his upbringing in war-torn Sukhumi, Georgia, while also celebrating his love for his native country, Vetements' Creative Director Demna Gvasalia has created a collection of pieces for Spring/Summer 2019 to capture the message. Printed with Georgian lettering translating to an expletive phrase, this bold hoodie is imbued with signature unapologetic attitude.”
As you can see, while Vetements alluded to the hoodie's explicit message, it didn't translate the text verbatim (which in a literal sense means something like "go to a dick"). Not to mention the script is Russian Cyrillic, not Georgian, which has a different alphabet.
Moscow-based journalist Max Seddon tweeted the translation on March 7 and the offending hoodie was taken down from the Harrods webstore shortly afterward.
According to Mirror Online, a Harrods spokesperson commented, “Following feedback from customers, we have made the decision to remove this product from sale in Harrods and on Harrods.com.”
