| Date: | June 21st, 2014 |
|---|---|
| Time: | 1 - 5pm (UTC-08:00) |
| Location: | Union Square, San Francisco, CA, USA |
(SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA)- On Saturday, June 21, 2014 at 1pm, over 200 Sufi students gathered around Union Square in the heart of San Francisco to protest and raise awareness of a now worldwide campaign against fashion designer, Roberto Cavalli’s ‘Just Cavalli’ line.
The spiritual symbol has been trademarked for 27 years, has been documented for 150 years and is associated with 1400 years of heritage of the M.T.O Shahmaghsoudi School of Islamic Sufism. It has immense special meaning and exemplifies the spiritual journey of self-knowledge that defines Sufism. The symbol not only spells out the name of God in Arabic (‘Allah’) but also reflects the opening and awakening of the heart.
Fashion designer, Roberto Cavalli recently copied this symbol and is using it on merchandise for profit. This, on it’s own, is very hurtful and unethical. To make matters worse, Roberto Cavalli is misconstruing the symbol as a ‘snake-bite’ and using it as a representation of lust, seduction, and the original sin. This is extremely disrespectful and so far from the true meaning of this symbol of love, peace, and unity that Sufi students have protested all around the world to gain public awareness of this atrocity and started a social media campaign called #TakeOffJustLogo. Protests have taken place in LA, NY, Paris, London, Germany, Canada, and more.
Even before the protest on Saturday, the SF Bay Guardian published a piece priming the Bay Area public about the international campaign and the demonstration in San Francisco. Crowds marched Saturday around Union Square and rallied around stores that sell Roberto Cavalli merchandise such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus. Employees from some of the stores came outside during the demonstration to speak to the protesters and were empathetic to the issue, many signing the campaign’s change.org petition and taking stacks of flyers to distribute to their friends and colleagues.
The amount of support received in San Francisco was immense. Representatives of the #TakeOffJustLogo campaign spoke with and reached hundreds of locals, tourists from all over the world, and people of all backgrounds that were gathered in Union Square on Saturday. Awareness continues to spread of Roberto Cavalli’s lack of respect for Islamic Sufism and support continues to grow in asking Roberto Cavalli to #TAKEOFFJUSTLOGO
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