Model Ayesha Tan-Jones has staged a silent protest on the runway in Gucci's Spring/Summer 2020 fashion show at Milan Fashion Week.
Tan-Jones walked the runway with their hands outstretched and the statement "mental health is not fashion" scrawled across both their palms.
According to , the message was in response to Gucci's straitjacket-inspired runway looks, which reportedly involved models entering from behind “a set of corrugated metal gates” on a conveyor belt-like catwalk.
Taking to Instagram following the show, Tan-Jones explained their "last minute" decision to protest the show's aesthetic, writing: "I chose to protest the Gucci S/S 2020 runway show as I believe, as many of my fellow models do, that the stigma around mental health must end."
They continued: "Worldwide, 1 in 4 people suffer from mental health issues, and LGBTQIA+ individuals are 3 times more likely to experience a mental health condition. LGBTQIA+ youth are 4 times more likely to attempt suicide, experience suicidal thoughts, and engage in self-harm, as compared to youths that are straight. 38-65 per cent of transgender individuals experience suicidal thoughts. And for black and brown communities, indigenous communities, and Asian communities in the West, mental health statistics are much higher compared to white adults."
Tan-Jones donated 100 per cent of their fee for the show to mental health organisations and described the supposed 'straight-jacket' theme as "hurtful and insensitive".
"Many people with [mental health] issues are still stigmatised in the workplace and in daily life, while many people still do not consider mental health issues are ‘real illnesses’ as they may not be visible," they wrote.
"[Straitjackets] are a symbol of a cruel time in medicine when mental illness was not understood, and people’s rights and liberties were taken away from them, while they were abused and tortured in the institution.
"It is in bad taste for Gucci to use the imagery of [straitjackets] and outfits alluding to mental patients, while being rolled out on a conveyor belt as if a piece of factory meat."
reports that several of Tan-Jones' fellow Gucci models stood in solidarity with the artist and musician, donating part of their fees for the show to charity.
Gucci responded to the protest on , releasing a statement arguing the show was a "statement".
"It was a journey from conformity to freedom and creativity," the statement read.
"Uniforms, utilitarian clothes, such as straitjackets, were included on the catwalk as the most extreme version of restriction imposed by society and those who control it.
"The white outfits were a statement for the fashion show and part of a performance, in the sense of setting the context for what followed."
