Tommy Dorfman accused Ferragamo’s luxury fashion brand of having “racist” and “transfobic” behavior.
The “13 Reasons Why” star, identified as non-binary, previously partnered with Ferragamo as a photographer and curator for the February “Viva Viva” campaign, but announced on their Instagram Stories that they broke ties three months ago.
“The people who run this company are racists,” the 28-year-old actor wrote captured by the Prada Diet. “They are transfused. They are not positive body. They will say ‘but we have thrown black people and trans people’ right, but only with the strength of the hand. “
Continued Dorfman, “And the numbers are still small. And they failed to treat them the same. Only because of anger and threats to withdraw from the shooting campaign for them did they surrender. “
The star goes on to remember an incident where label creative director Paul Andrew allegedly “asked if, in photoshop, they could make a black model turn white.”
“They have said vicious transphob, body spasms and racist things directly to me,” Dorfman said. “I call them every time and they promise to change. They say that they are “learning.” They obviously don’t learn, they don’t change. They have proven, as a company, repeatedly only interested in meaningless apologies with zero follow-up. Discourse is sometimes not enough. “
The actor, who also works with ASOS, claims that Ferragamo threatened them with legal action if they spoke, and that “fear” has kept them quiet until now.
“That time is over,” they concluded. “I’m sorry I didn’t talk faster about this problem. I feel very ashamed for not calling these people up until now. This post is only a small sign of how difficult they are. “
On Wednesday, Ferragamo share Instagram posts in response to the murder of George Floyd and the protests that have taken place since then.
Along with photographs of white and black hands raised to the sky, the label quotes Nelson Mandela: “Achieving a more egalitarian future. Racism must end now. #BlackLivesMatter. “
Representatives for Ferragamo declined to comment.
