Screenshot on social media. Photo: Screenshot on Twitter

 Canadian sports brand Lululemon announced Tuesday that it was not behind the production of a "discriminatory" shirt featuring patterns of bats and chopsticks, after the shirt was allegedly co-designed by the brand's art director and an artist who promoted COVID-19 racism by linking it to bats, provoking public anger.

"The involved individuals are not staff members of Lululemon… The disgraceful clothing is not designed and produced by Lululemon," said Lululemon in a statement on its WeChat. 

The statement came after the brand's global art director Trevor Fleming, based in Canada, and artist Jess Sluder, based in California, allegedly co-designed a T-shirt featuring patterns of a bat and a pair of chopsticks on the front, and a bat and a container of iconic Chinese-American takeout fried rice on the back. The words "No thank you" can be seen on the container.

 "We advocate an active and healthy lifestyle and oppose all forms of discrimination. Lululemon's core culture and values represent our position and we will take this incident seriously," it said.

Sluder promoted the shirt on his Instagram, saying, "Where did COVID-19 come from? Nothing is certain, but we know a bat was involved. Beginning today, my limited edition guarantees are now available. Link in bio or DM for details… Thank you for your support and sense of humor!"

Meanwhile, the post is now inaccessible to the public as his Instagram account has been set to private.

The incident quickly drew a backlash from netizens, with many saying the production triggered criticism for its apparent xenophobic and racist design.

Many Asian netizens said they felt offended. A netizen commented on Twitter on Monday, "This is not humor. Your laughs and 'art' put people's lives and safety at risk," in response to Sluder's post.

Some Chinese netizens said the use of chopsticks in the design hurt their feelings, as eating Chinese food with chopsticks is part and parcel of China's food culture.

NextShark, a media outlet for Asian Americans, reported that among the first ones to call out Sluder on the problematic design was Chinese American TV personality and entrepreneur Dorothy Wang, who sent a private message urging the designer not to sell the shirt. 

"I was completely shocked and disgusted that people took the time and energy to create such a hateful and racially charged shirt, and were proudly marketing it in hopes of profiting off of the current xenophobia against Chinese or Asians due to the coronavirus," Wang told NextShark. 

Some netizens also rejected Sluder's mistaken insinuation that the origin of the coronavirus was bats. 

Previous scientific research and articles have challenged the theory that bats were the origin of the virus. 

An article published in Nature on February 26 titled "Mystery deepens over animal source of coronavirus," suggested pangolins were the prime suspect, but a slew of genetic analyses has yet to find conclusive proof.

Lulelemon soon posted the statement after the public backlash. 

Lululemon entered the Chinese mainland market in December 2016 and it has nearly 30 stores in the mainland now. Reports said that the brand has a strong intention to expand its shares in the Chinese market.

Global Times