Bath and Body Works released its new Black History Month collection, and the heat around it has been real.
According to the brand, the collection comes with a donation to the National Urban Leagues organization.
Stylecaster reports:
This Black History Month, Bath & Body Works is proud to continue its longstanding commitment to the Columbus and National Urban Leagues through a $500,000 donation,” Ronak Fields, community relations and philanthropy, said in a statement.
“These funds will support underserved communities with workforce development and economic empowerment programs throughout America.
I am grateful for the opportunity to work at Bath & Body Works and side-by-side with passionate associates who are committed to uplifting our neighbors.”
The brand also made it clear that it was created with the help of talented black creators.
According to William Bernard, vice president of design, the collection honors the traditional art and storytelling of the handmade African mud cloth. “
To me, it beautifully bridges our rich history with a bright future through vibrant colors and inspirational messages.
I also think it’s meaningful that a group of Black associates, leaders and partners from Bath & Body Works were a part of the creation, allowing our collective expression to come to life,” he said.
Now that we have the context out of the way, here is what happened on TikTok.
User @trini3571 said she went to Bath and Body Works to check out the collection because when she heard about it something in her spirit said it was borderline racist because “what yall trying to say black people smell like?”.
Watch below, and swipe left.
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Sis did have some criticism thrown at her on Tiktok because her sentiments come off as ‘never satisfied’ but there are quite a folks on Twitter who agreed with her.
Why I’m thinking Bath and Body Works have a new fragrance and it’s the same fragrance only in kente cloth colors ?? pic.twitter.com/PJpaMlNikb
— Smooth Melanin (@smoothmelanin) January 29, 2022
and
Bath and Body works slapped kente cloth on them candles and y’all about to eat that shit up. So gullible ? no new scents, just dashiki style candles and vibes to seal the performance. Support these black businesses and gone about y’all day
— ittfnytab (@blickiddyb) February 1, 2022
and
not bath and body works slapping “african prints and patterns” on products that already exist and being like “yay celebrate black history month!!!” pic.twitter.com/51rrRbvaiF
— noir (@KickThatHoe) January 31, 2022
and
DO NOT SUPPORT BATH AND BODY WORKS WHY IS THERE A WATERMELON SCENTED CANDLE FRONT AND CENTER!??? pic.twitter.com/f7iADR9FZg
— Princess Tiana (@ms_tiananicole) February 1, 2022
and
That Kente packaging at Bath + Body Works isn’t funny but it is because it was in collab with the Nat. Urban League — And that’s very representative of the time that these old guard Black orgs be on lolol They like + are satisfied with a veryyyy specific kind of “representation” pic.twitter.com/jH3pm6zRTn
— Shelby Ivey Christie (@bronze_bombSHEL) February 1, 2022
Comment your thoughts below.
