Designer brand, Gucci forced to pull balaclava sweaters that resemble blackface

Gucci has been forced to pull the balaclava sweater from its physical and online stores after they were accused of being racist by making a sweater that resembles blackface.

The $890 black turtleneck stretches up to cover the wearer's nose and includes a round, red-lined cut-out for the mouth. 

African Americans on social media were greatly offended by the jumper and saw the garment as racist and insensitive.

Following the backlash, Gucci apologized and announced that they'll be pulling the garment from their stores.

Gucci wrote in a statement released on Twitter:

Gucci deeply apologizes for the offense caused by the wool balaclava jumper. We can confirm that the item has been immediately removed from our online store and all physical stores.

Wr consider diversity to be a fundamental value to be fully upheld, respected, and at the forefront of every decision we make.

We are fully committed to increasing diversity throughout our organization and turning this incident into a powerful learning moment for the Gucci team and beyond.

Social media users were far from appeased by the apology and they are still calling the company out.