Apparent swastika displayed at Nebraska fashion show was misunderstanding, designer says

An apparent swastika displayed on an outfit during a Nebraska fashion week show wasn’t what it seemed, a designer says.

Kelli Molczyk, who designed the now-viral jacket worn by a model during Omaha Fashion Week, calls the outcry over her design a misunderstanding.

But organizers for the annual event say they were “appalled” by the image, which they referred to as a “hate symbol.”

“This was not something that was seen beforehand,” organizers said in a March 20 post on Facebook. “It was not at our rack check, which happens a few weeks before shows, and was not put on the model until shortly before she walked the runway, so our team did not have the chance to pull the garment until after it had walked the runway once.”

Each outfit normally appears on the runway three times, fashion week owner Brook Hudson told KMTV. She told the station the jacket was “ripped” off the model after the first time she appeared on the runway.

“When the model turned, the whole production team was ... like, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s a swastika, we’ve got to remove that immediately,’” Hudson told KMTV.

Organizers say the designer will not be allowed to return to the Omaha Fashion Week runaway. They also said their protocols and screening process will be altered to prevent a similar occurrence from happening in the future.

But Molczyk said what appeared to be a Nazi symbol was actually a remnant of an “antique pinwheel quilt.”

She said in an Instagram post it was not her intent for the design to resemble a swastika.

“I have never been a part of a hate organization, and I condemn, in the strongest terms, the swastika and any form of hate speech or conduct,” Molczyk said. “To associate me with any such acts of hate or hate groups is reprehensible and defamatory.”

Though the event happened Feb. 27 to March 1, it wasn’t until weeks later when the image began to go viral, prompting the response by organizers.

Whitney Hansen, who shared the image on Facebook on March 19, criticized organizers for waiting weeks to issue a statement. She told KMTV she wasn’t convinced the design was a misunderstanding.

“I felt completely disgusted that anyone even making a mistake would put such a blatant sign of violence and the death of millions of people on an article of clothing,” Hansen said.