During Dolce & Gabbana’s Spring-Summer ’18 runway show filled with millennials instead of normal runway models, Millennial Atlanta Artists, Raury, took a stance.
During the finale of the fashion show, Raury took off part of his outfit to show the words of protest he wrote on his body. “PROTEST,” “DG GIVE ME FREEDOM,” and “I AM NOT YOUR SCAPEGOAT.” After the move, Raury disapeared to leave the venue, because “I didn’t know what could happen to me.”
GQ: Let’s start at square one. What did Dolce & Gabbana do that you felt was wrong? Raury: The “Boycott Dolce & Gabbana” T-shirt they created completely makes a mockery of what “boycotting” is. Boycotting is the people’s voice. A protest is the people’s voice. It has power. It changes things. When I came out to Milan for my first time walking on a fashion runway, ever, I was excited. I’m a stylish-ass young kid, but I don’t know everything about fashion. I knew nothing about the T-shirt until I was here. I had already agreed to walk for them. [The day before the show,] I Googled “Dolce & Gabbana” so that I could know who was who when I finally met them. I didn’t want to be disrespectful to either one of them by calling them the wrong name. When I typed up their names, the first thing I saw was a headline on Fortune.com, “Dolce & Gabbana Is Trolling Melania Trump Critics with This $245 T-shirt.” National Post, AOL, etc. And then I saw a commercial featuring the boycott T-shirt, and it looked playful and lighthearted—it was a joke. It was a troll. Me, as a young man from Stone Mountain, Georgia, the birthplace of the Klu Klux Klan, I really felt this mockery of boycotting. Who knows, if boycotts didn’t happen, if Rosa Parks and M.L.K. didn’t step up…who knows if I would even exist. Boycotting matters. Boycotting is real. Dolce’s entire campaign says it’s not real. I know that if I walk out there and support or endorse anything that sits next to Trump—or support someone who even makes dinner for Trump or whatever—then that means that I support Trump also. I don’t support Trump. So I’m trapped, and I have to let people know that I don’t support Trump and I don’t support those who are trying to undermine the voice of the people.
“They had, like, a bar of security in front of the door. I had to run, like, 300 feet up and away from them.”
Stefano Gabbana posted many pictures of the T-shirt and campaign on his Instagram. They weren’t exactly hiding it. Did you guys know about it and what it stood for?
This is my first time walking in a runway show. There are a lot of other kids here—and it was their first time walking in a runway show, too. Everyone was just excited. Everyone was blinded by the opportunity. First time being in Milan…Dolce & Gabbana giving us free clothes. It’s lit. This is Dolce’s “Millennial” campaign. But a lot of millennials didn’t know that Dolce & Gabbana styles Melania Trump or had made this T-shirt mocking boycotting. But my nerdy ass looked into it.
Why “I am not your scapegoat”?
I wondered why I was picked to come out here and support them in a time when they’re going through some heat. So here I am, about to be like, Dolce & Gabbana is cool, but I didn’t know what they had done. And a lot of [models in the runway show] didn’t know what they had done. I felt like Dolce & Gabbana was literally trying to use the youth to wash their hands of any sort of heat from anyone who wants to protest against them.
What happened after you took your shirt off and did the reveal?
I knew I had to get out of there. I didn’t know what could happen to me. I was dealing with a lot of energy. I was thinking: Oh shit, what does this mean? This is their city. They’re some of the most powerful people in this city. This is fueling something against them, and who knows how ruthless they are? So when I walked out of there, I made a beeline to the exit and a security guard wrapped me up. I juked his dumb ass but got stopped at the door. I kept saying, “Don’t touch me. Don’t touch me. The only person I will talk to is my manager, Che.” Che brought me my clothes—I took off all of the Dolce & Gabbana clothes I was wearing and tried to leave. They tried to stop us. They were trying to keep me in there. Why? I’m not stealing anything from you guys, you have everything you gave me. But they had, like, a bar of security in front of the door. I had to run, like, 300 feet up and away from them.
In the video from the show, you can see Raury beginning to take off his clothes, but the actual reveal id edited out.
