Shoe and clothing chain Footasylum has removed ‘tactical wear’ utility jackets from its stores after a Nottingham youth worker said they may be mistaken for stab vests.
Damien Henry said he was “appalled” when he saw a jacket in the window of Footasylum in Nottingham.
Reacting to it, Footasylum said although it was “popular contemporary fashion” but, due to “misunderstanding around this product”, it has withdrawn the item.
Henry believed the move could help save lives.
Henry believed that vest could mislead youngsters. “A child won’t look at that and think, ‘Oh that’s just a fashion item’. They might look at it and think, ‘That looks nice. That looks like a stab-proof vest or a bulletproof vest’,” he said.
A Footasylum spokesman said it stocked a range of utility vests, as do a number of other fashion retailers.
Footasylum, that has lost almost 90 per cent of its market value over the past year as it contends with tough high street trading, made headlines sometime back when there was news that UK retailer JD Sports Fashion bought 8.3 per cent stake in it.
