We dislike giving any unnecessary PR to [bad designer], the L.E.S. twit who duped the free NYC paper Metro into putting him on its cover for a racist publicity stunt about a (probably nonexistent) attack by a pack of young black girls on a poor "victim" wearing a [bad designer] t-shirt that said "OBAMA IS MY SLAVE." But sometimes it's important to give coverage to those shining beacons of stupidity among us, so that we all know how not to act. Jewish Week tracked down [bad designer, who's Jewish] for an interview about his bad reputation. Sample: “'I’ve received death threats on the phone, especially from black people,' [b.d.] said. How did he know, over the phone, their ethnicity? 'They sound African-American.'” There's more!
When The Jewish Week paid him a visit at his cramped shop on Tuesday afternoon, the long-haired, fast-talking [b.d.] claimed to have summoned the police to his store twice the day the story hit the streets, to deal with berating visitors. His mother has urged him to return home to Israel, after some have called for his head, literally.
Not surprising, what with his edgy, cutting-edge, edge-moving political fashion:
[B.d.], who left the Holy Land for New York in the summer of 2001, is no stranger to controversy. One of his fashion shows featured a gay wedding between two models, one with a mask of President George W. Bush, the other wearing an Osama bin Laden mask. He doesn’t seem to be a fan of any politicians, stating he is no fan of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and that Sen. John McCain “is not the answer” for America. His line of anti-Obama shirts has been on sale since March, sporting slogans like “Jews Against Obama,” “Obama = Hitler,” and “Who Killed Obama?” the latter of which the designer claims has sold 1,200. They sell for anywhere from $69 to $250.
Some people can handle it. Some people can't.
Web sites like Gawker believe it’s all a stunt to get people into his store, and the designer isn’t helping matters. As this Jewish Week reporter was leaving, he attempted to sell her a copy of his self-published book of poetry, “America, My Whore.”
[Jewish Week. The story also gives credence to what we heard about the firing of the Metro editor who oversaw the front-page story.]
