The Internet has a lot of opinions about Doechii's branded face stamp
Doechii's week is not getting any better. The rapper best known for her song 'Anxiety' made her Met Gala debut on Monday evening, but received backlash for a BTS video which showed Doechii yelling at her staff while she was being escorted to the venue. That's not all, her Met Gala makeup was called out for being insensitive as it featured branding on her skin.
What did people think of Doechii's branded face stamp?
Doechii sported a stamp of the Louis Vuitton brand logo 'LV' on her skin. The 'baby face stamp' was achieved by LA-based prosthetic makeup artist Malina Stearn,s who has worked with Kim Kardashian and Doja Cat as well. Though the branding was curated as a gimmick since Doechii was clad in top-to-toe Louis Vuitton.
Doechii wore a bespoke, monogrammed and Damier Azur ensemble curated by Men’s Creative Director Pharrell Williams. Her ensemble was inspired by the 18th-century Black dandy wardrobe of Afro-Caribbean fencing master Julius Soubise.
Her sharp light grey-blue Louis Vuitton monogram tailcoat, paired with a matching waistcoat featuring pearl-encrusted buttons, and a white poplin shirt layered over Louis Vuitton Damier Azur shorts received appreciation from her fans but the skin branding was a tad bit much for some of fans. People took to social media to point out that Doechii may have endorsed a culturally inappropriate beauty look since the branding, particularly the scarification, is quite similar to how slaves were branded by their masters.
Threads user @freddyourlove raised some concerns about the concept. “LOVE me some Doechii… I’m absolutely not into this European logo ‘branded’ on her skin for a night celebrating the labor and ingenuity of Black culture and Black men,” they wrote. “Not reading as subversive from here.”
However, some fans did point out that the branding may be a callback to the brutal tradition of scarring slaves and an acknowledgement of the past. The Met Gala's theme this year was “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” which paid homage to the history and cultural influence of Black style. So, one can see why Doechii would say yes to the idea of a logo branding on her face, as a form of expression.
"The Louis Vuitton logo branded on Doechii’s face is very symbolic. Our ancestors were branded as a way for slave masters to identify the enslaved. Black skin holds so much history, trauma, and pain yet we continue to be the blueprint in fashion & style. Black Style," a fan wrote on X.
Doechi's facial stamp is by no means the first time a Black artist has been spotted with a sort of branded stamping on their person. In 1999, Lil’ Kim shot a magazine cover wearing nothing but a Louis Vuitton-stamped leather hat, the brand’s logo printed all over her nude body.
In his 2003 conceptual series named Branded Head, Hank Willis Thomas explored how American society commodifies Black male identity. In his photography series “Branded,” the artist digitally added a scarred Nike logo onto pictures of a Black model. However, Doechii received a stronger strain of criticism for her behaviour with her glam team, and the singer has finally responded to her viral moment.
According to Doechii, however, the frustration was not directed at her team, but rather at the unexpected presence of paparazzi in the hotel lobby, who she thought were trying to get a glimpse at her Met Gala look, which was being hidden with the help of umbrellas.
Her concern, she explained, was that the look was meant to be a surprise reveal at the gala’s red carpet. Doechii shared a video with a humorous caption: “God forbid a girl needs more umbrellas ,” poking fun at how her team surrounded her with a number of umbrellas to hide her look. She also publicly praised her team and said, “I’m so, so, so proud of my glam team and the LV team for an incredible night! Everyone killed it. We nailed the theme and a time was had .”