This weekend, celebrity stylist and Cardi B’s right-hand, Kollin Carter, used his platform to call out a fashion showroom in Los Angeles. Carter, who usually stays behind the scenes, brought to light to a racist comment made by Mikey Stone, cofounder of The Archive Showroom. “We HAVE to start holding these businesses accountable that benefit from our culture,” the stylist wrote on Instagram.
Carter leaked an alleged message from Stone calling its Black customers “Felicia” and expressing discrepancy with the number of Black customers in the showroom’s pieces. “I can’t have 20 Black girls all wearing the same dress,” Stone allegedly wrote in one message and “Why so many Black clients you guys. No offense. But It’s just so African American lately,” in another. Carter also exposed the owner for dropping an employee for dressing too many Black clients.
Within the past few weeks, all eyes have been on specific industries that have historically treated Black people unfairly—one being the fashion space. Within this time, many brands have come forward with new initiatives to support Black Lives Matter movements while others have gotten exposed for their racist practices. “I contemplated addressing this publicly but I want you all to see how racist people are behind closed doors and how they then turn around and use us for their benefit. This is completely unacceptable. You all should be ashamed of yourselves,” Carter concluded.
The Archive Showroom has not made an official comment.