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<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Luxe inclusive it-brand Selkie — known for the “</span><a href="https://www.shondaland.com/shondaland-series/bridgerton/selkie-founder-kimberley-gordon-on-joining-the-bridgerton-world"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Bridgerton</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">”-esque “</span><a href="https://www.teenvogue.com/story/selkie-tiktok-famous-puff-dress-inclusive-fashion"><span style="font-weight: 400;">puff dress</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">” it popularized on TikTok — is taking major heat from its fanbase. The label’s new patriotic capsule didn’t land with fashion-hungry feminists who are taking a hard pass on reclaiming their own American story. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Despite giving “sexy Colonial woman,” not even starry-blue corsets or flouncy red-and-white striped skirts could convince Selkie devotees that a $799 petticoat meant they’d be fighting the patriarchy. Even worse for the woman-owned, LGBT-friendly brand, the announcement dropped on Instagram in tandem with the arrival of “Pride Month.” The comment section promptly frothed with rage. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Could have been a Pride collection. Instead it’s… this,” a she/her licensed </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/glitterdivine/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">trauma therapist</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> posted. “Releasing literally nothing would have been better.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Fronted by U.K.-born WILDFOX  co-founder </span><a href="https://selkiecollection.com/pages/about-selkie"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Kimberley Gordon</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, who spent much of her life in Santa Barbara, California, Selkie attempted to sell the concept with a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DZFrG0AFLLj/?img_index=1">rallying message</a>. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“America has been in the background of our lives and stories … At a time when women’s rights are threatened, immigrant women are torn from their communities, guns are rampant in our schools and [sic] violence against women, minorities and the LGBTQ communities … We refuse to surrender the symbols of this country to those who would use them against us … What’s your American story?”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Instead of sharing heartwarming anecdotes, followers went for the jugular. “If I saw someone wearing this collection, I would think them an unsafe person to be around,” </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DZFrG0AFLLj/?img_index=1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">someone</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> posted. Others called the line “colonial chic” and tone-deaf, with one person suggesting, “If someone wears any of this I would immediately assume they’re MAGA.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This post followed a vintage carousel of 1900s women advocating for equality. Instead of seeing the user-dubbed “</span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DZB5WXglJLo/?img_index=16"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Suffragette Core</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">” as retail motivation, one former fan posted, “WTF. Just bought my first Selkie dress last month now I won’t EVER buy from you again.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A subsequent post promoting </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DZIja_fmaaM/?img_index=5"><span style="font-weight: 400;">queer American flag chic</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> did nothing to tame the outrage. “I dunno if now is the right time to be celebrating America when everything has collapsed into a facist [sic] oligarchy and we have literal concentration camps everywhere,” a </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DZFrG0AFLLj/?img_index=1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">critic</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> warned, seemingly oblivious to this comments suppressive efforts.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As the internet’s No. 1 </span><a href="https://time.com/5675803/america-flag-threat/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">triggering motif</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, the </span><a href="https://www.usa.gov/flag"><span style="font-weight: 400;">American flag</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> boasts three representative colors for the nation: red for valor and bravery, white to signify purity and innocence, and blue to symbolize vigilance, perseverance, and justice. “</span><a href="https://www.ushistory.org/documents/pledge.htm"><span style="font-weight: 400;">One nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">,” the Pledge of Allegiance goes. The “for all” part still stands, even if </span><a href="https://yellowhammernews.com/rep-dale-strong-proposes-law-to-bring-back-patriotism-in-american-schools-receives-support-from-dozen-alabama-school-districts/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">no one</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> says it anymore.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Launched after Kimberley Gordon was pushed out of the WILDFOX brand she founded and grew over a decade, Selkie was meant to empower female expression through sumptuous style. As </span><a href="https://fashionista.com/2022/02/viral-fashion-trend-product-business"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Gordon described</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> it, “I had this dream of this dress … like a piece of bubblegum. I wanted to make my first ever princess-y dress that was like a dessert — like a confection come to life for your body.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The brand gets its name from the </span><a href="https://www.wildernessireland.com/blog/irish-myths-legends-selkies/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">mythological mermaid</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> creature found in </span><a href="https://www.wildernessireland.com/blog/irish-myths-legends-selkies/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Scottish and Irish</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> folklore. Half seal and half human, the enchanting selkie is vulnerable to a restrictive life on land if its aquatic “seal” skin is lost or stolen. Selkie (the brand) aimed to protect its wearer’s soul.  </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Breaking from the industry norms of her previous label, Gordon demanded inclusive XXS to 6X sizing for women of all types. Runway shows featured models rolling down the catwalk in </span><a href="https://youtu.be/WPAcfa2_Yb4?t=237"><span style="font-weight: 400;">wheelchairs</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and being carried by </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/d6opd_FXZUE?t=20&amp;feature=share"><span style="font-weight: 400;">strapping men</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> like “Anne of Green Gables” romantasy. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Many of the cupcake-like gowns have rightly been described as </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DXYdsZvFUuD/?img_index=1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">wearable paintings</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. After debuting in </span><a href="https://www.teenvogue.com/story/selkie-tiktok-famous-puff-dress-inclusive-fashion"><span style="font-weight: 400;">2018</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, the line found a home with national retailers like Revolve, Anthropologie, Free People, and Bloomingdale’s and earned the celebrity set’s stamp of approval. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But even a deeply diverse bench of multicolored </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/iYnspppTLtc"><span style="font-weight: 400;">muses</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> with voluminous curves, splotchy freckles, kinky hair, vitiligo, and full beards couldn’t satisfy the gluttonous fantasies of the solipsistic masses. If we’re naval gazing, it’s certainly not at a star-spangled belly button ring. </span></p>
<p><a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/4709465-liberals-have-lost-their-patriotism/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Progressives</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> shall not abide American patriotism, even if it’s upcycled similarly t o the way Amber Rose rebranded “</span><a href="https://time.com/4961144/amber-rose-slut-walk-essay/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">sl*t</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">,” Lizzo reclaimed “</span><a href="https://www.ndtv.com/entertainment/lizzo-says-her-album-bitch-is-about-reclaiming-who-i-am-after-years-of-criticism-11597246"><span style="font-weight: 400;">b*tch</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">,” and </span><a href="https://www.glamour.com/story/when-did-we-all-get-so-comfortable-saying-the-c-word"><span style="font-weight: 400;">K-Pop stans campified the c-word</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> on social media. Nothing can shift the “stars and stripes = bad” fallout from what some perceive as a full-fledged </span><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelposner/2023/07/26/liberal-activists-in-the-us-need-to-reclaim-the-american-flag/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">co-opt</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> by a certain administration of our country’s national emblem.    </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">On a </span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/BrandyMelville/comments/1h9fpmd/comment/m1107rt/?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=web3x&amp;utm_name=web3xcss&amp;utm_term=1&amp;utm_content=share_button"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Reddit</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> post asking if those outside the U.S. would ever wear America’s patriotic finest — specifically, a Brandy Melville sweater stitched with a standard American flag — one person summed up an outsider’s view of “Americore” as fashion: </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I think it is weird if you are an American haha, it gives patriotism. But if you are a foreigner (like me who lives in a third world country where everyone&#8217;s dream is being American) it goes with the ‘lana del rey americana’ aesthetic of the 2010s.” </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Selkie appears to have pivoted toward a fundraising effort for its new collection, promising to dedicate </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DZNXsiAFOIq/?igsh=MW9tMjI2NzFjOXd0bA%3D%3D"><span style="font-weight: 400;">100% net profit</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> ($40,000 minimum) to the Immigrant Legal Resource Center and UN Women. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“As a white woman, the idea that we get to decide this symbol can simply be reclaimed feels deeply uncomfortable to me,” plus-size model </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DZNXsiAFOIq/?igsh=MW9tMjI2NzFjOXd0bA%3D%3D"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Tess Holliday</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> commented. Others piled on. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But Kimberly Gordon remains unapologetic.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“This collection is, in part, about the pressure to conform under public scrutiny and the way online outrage can sometimes shut down meaningful dialogue,” she responded. “To apologize simply because there is criticism would undermine the very conversation the work is intended to spark.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Gordon maintains her right to creative liberty over her vision of modern Americana. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“It was the symbol of the world I was moving to from the UK, it was the symbol of my new life and friends and the kindness of my California peers. It’s a pattern I&#8217;ve played with my whole career in fashion,” </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DZIja_fmaaM/?img_index=5"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Gordon wrote</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> of the U.S. flag. “The thing about choices is that I have them, these collections are my American story.”</span></p>

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Woke Fashion Brand Discovers Its Fans Can’t Handle The American Flag