The French fashion house Lemaire, known for its understated elegance and cerebral minimalism, has found itself entangled in a controversy that reaches far beyond the catwalk. The brand's campaign for its first olfactory collection, *Objets Senteur*, featured a handwoven linen scent diffuser styled to resemble a Qing Dynasty-era queue braid. In one image, the braid lay beside a pair of scissors; in another, it was suspended above a button-down shirt. To Chinese netizens on Xiaohongshu and TikTok, the imagery evoked not sophistication, but disrespect. The queue braid, a symbol imposed upon Han Chinese men under Manchu rule, carries a legacy of subjugation and cultural erasure - a weight no brand should treat as a prop.
Lemaire, which debuted in China with a flagship in Chengdu's Taikoo Li in November 2024 - bypassing the usual Shanghai-Beijing route - has since deleted the campaign posts and disabled Instagram comments. In a statement, the brand apologized for "not exercising sufficient awareness," noting the braid was "never intended to reference any specific culture." Yet this is not Lemaire's first brush with such unease: a 2024 Lunar New Year collection featuring braided horsehair on its signature croissant bag drew comparisons to Hong Kong ghost stories.
For a house that prides itself on thoughtful craft, the oversight is striking. The lingerie world knows well the power of intimate design to encode memory and meaning - a corset's boning whispers of Victorian restraint; a silk slip recalls the liberation of 1920s flappers. Lemaire's braid, stripped of context, became a cultural ghost. The lesson is not new: when fashion borrows from history, it must first ask whose story it is telling. Otherwise, even the most beautiful object can become a snare.
Originally reported by WWD