No stranger to controversy, the world of fashion is one that’s familiar with headline-grabbing and sometimes ostentatious displays of exhibitionism, the sort that elicits equal amounts of praise, curiosity and criticism.

Fashion, after all, telegraphs meaning. It has the power to persuade, influence and infiltrate popular culture. Its power is not to be underestimated.

Which is precisely why the decision by Ye – the multi-hyphenate formally known as Kanye West – to design, produce and wear White Lives Matter T-shirts at his label Yeezy’s YZYS9 Paris Fashion Week show yesterday is so abhorrent. That somebody so influential and with such a large platform as Ye’s would stand in solidarity with ignorance is deeply problematic. Conservative pundit Candace Owens was present at the show and was also wearing the controversial T-shirt.

Why White Lives Matter T-shirts have no place at Paris Fashion Week – or anywhere