Activewear label Lululemon apologises for ‘inappropriate’ bat fried rice shirt

Activewear company Lululemon Athletica has apologised for an offensive shirt design that was inadvertently linked to the company despite having nothing to do with it.

The ‘bat fried rice’ shirt caused outraged on Chinese social media for “insulting” the country.

The design showed a small image of chopsticks with bat wings in red on the front and a winged Chinese takeaway box with the words “No Thank You” on the back.

The shirt was designed by artist Jess Sluder, who has no connection with Lululemon, but a link to his website was shared on the Instagram page of the company art director, Trevor Fleming.

Mr Fleming’s Instagram page has been switched to private however his biography on the social media platform says, “I deeply apologise for putting the URL in my bio. I did not design the T-shirt, nor did I participate in any part of its creation”.

Critics said Mr Sluder and Mr Fleming were trying to stir anti-Asian sentiment during the coronavirus pandemic.

Before it was removed on Sunday, the post on Mr Sluder's Instagram account read, “Where did COVID-19 come from? Nothing is certain, but we know a bat was involved.”

Lululemon was also forced to apologise after the social media storm.

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