© Reuters. Shoppers line up outside Target during the Black Friday sale in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., November 25, 2022. REUTERS / Jim Vondruska
LONDON (Reuters) – Transgender designer Erik Carnell has seen a surge in demand for pins, prints, stickers and t-shirts after the US retailer Target Corp (NYSE:) has withdrawn its products amid a backlash from some customers with its Pride collection, he said Thursday.
Target’s Pride collection includes more than 2,000 products ranging from clothing to music to home furnishings, and while a number of products are under review, only those are removed from the company’s website and stores. they are so far of Carnell’s Abprallen brand.
Target says this year’s Pride collection has resulted in an increase in confrontations between customers and employees and incidents of Pride merchandise being thrown on the floor.
In messages on the Etsy website and store (NASDAQ: ) to Abprallen, Carnell said the number of orders was so large that he had to temporarily stop taking new orders.
“Your support during this extremely difficult time means more than I can express,” Carnell writes on the brand’s Etsy page, which advertises “Accessories for the loud, arrogant proud and colorful”. Abprallen, which means “recoil” in German, is Carnell’s favorite word.
Screenshots and social media posts show that Target previously sold three Abprallen items: a $25 tag tag sweater with the words “cure transphobia, not transphobia.” not transgender,” an $18 “too weird here” tote bag, and a “we belong everywhere” tote bag.
Carnell, a gay man living in London, said on Instagram that he doesn’t know if Target will start reselling the items and that he will know more in the coming days.
“I hope that none of Target’s retail employees are victims of further threats and that none of them are harmed,” he wrote.
The social media backlash has largely been directed at Abprallen products not sold at Target, some of which feature a pentagram and a horned ram skull that some associate with worship. worship Satan.
Products for sale on Abprallen’s Etsy store include a pin with the slogan “The Great Proverb Respects Satan” for £5.20 ($6.56) and an 8-pound enamel pin (10.10). USD) with the slogan “Trans Healthcare Now”.
“Believe it or not, I’m not a Satanist,” Carnell said on Instagram, responding to reports and social media posts that labeled him “Satan-loving”.
Etsy, an online marketplace where people sell home-made products, did not respond to a request for comment.
($1 = 0.7923 British pounds)
