KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 28 ― Rapper Cardi B is calling out racist double standards on women of colour for owning luxury Hermès Birkin handbags.
The outspoken US celebrity who is also a songwriter and actress took to Instagram yesterday to say her piece after reading an offensive tweet that questioned if the bags she and other female rappers owned were authentic.
Cardi B also said the tweet claimed that “female rappers depreciate the value” of the notoriously expensive designer carrier.
The 28-year-old who had purchased four bags at Hermes earlier that day, wasn’t having any of it and set the record straight in an Instagram video, pointing out the racist nature of the tweet.
“Why is it that y’all asking female rappers if they could get a bag from the Hermès store,” said Cardi B who owns many Birkin bags.
“Y’all don't do this to these white celebrities so, why is it that y’all gotta be asking us?”
Named after English-French actress Jane Birkin, Hermès’ Birkin bags are a favourite among the fashion elite and ultra-rich.
The bags are known for their long waiting list and eye-watering price tag which ranges anywhere between RM37,000 to RM1.2 million.
Cardi B also fired back at the suggestion that women of colour devalued designer goods, saying hip-hop artistes have set trends and made the shares of luxury brands go up.
“Another thing is that they’re saying that we depreciate the value,” she said.
“Actually, we add value because in hip-hop, when we mention brands in hip-hop, they s**t go up.”
She cited examples such as her hit song Bodak Yellow which mentions Christian Louboutin designer shoes.
“When Bodak Yellow came out, you could actually Google that their sales went up 1,000 plus per cent,” Cardi B said.
Similarly, I Like It sent Balenciaga shares soaring which led to the rapper collaborating with the Spanish maison.
“They s**t went up, too, and that’s why they worked with me this year,” she said.
“Like hip-hop, we start trends.
“When y’all say that we devalue s**t, no, we actually add value.”
The native New Yorker whose real name is Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar also condemned how people would doubt women of colour who owned designer bags.
“Why when a Black girl, why when a Hispanic girl [has] a bag, you have to question it?
“Whether ‘Oh is it fake?’ or ‘She’s a scammer’,” she said.
Cardi B pointed out that women of colour hold important positions at work and can afford their own luxury goods.
The mother of one who grew up in a humble household in the Bronx, went on to assure women that owning a Birkin wasn’t a necessity and that carrying one doesn’t define a person.
‘Let me tell you something: if you’re a regular girl, you don’t gotta break your neck to have a Birkin.
“A Birkin don't make you,” she said.
She ended her post by praising women who knew how to look stylish on a budget and reminded females to not compare their lives to unrealistic Instagram lives.
“They mix that Fashion Nova with the Zara and the H&M amazingly.
“So, don't ever feel like you gotta compare yourself.
“Don’t compare yourself to nobody [on] the internet, this internet s**t is fake,” she added.
