Converse is longer selling a pair of Chuck Taylors that depicted guitar legend Jimi Hendrix as a colorful, multi-armed Hindu deity.
The company says the shoe--a part of a fall collection in memory of Hendrix--will no longer be sold because it offends Hindu culture.
The Hindu and the Times of India reported on the story today, quoting Hindu leaders who complained to the company.
"When I heard about these shoes, my immediate concern was to express my own feelings and request for action and also indicate that many other Hindus also would feel as I did. I am sure other Hindus did likewise," said Beth Kulkarni.
She wrote a letter to the Converse, explaining that the shoes would be offensive to Hindus worldwide and requesting they be removed from the market. According to Kulkarni, the company replied by email:
Converse designed the Converse Chuck Taylor Jimi Hendrix/Axis shoe to demonstrate our support of music culture and to celebrate the contributions of the global music icon, Jimi Hendri. With approval of the Hendrix estate, we applied artwork taken directly from the 1967 Axis: Bold as Love album cover. The cover art included images of Hindu deities. Our ambitions were to honor the music of Jimi Hendrix. It was not our intent to offend Hindu culture by having Hindu deities on footwear.
The shoes are no longer available on the Converse website or Zappos, although the other two in the collection, one inspired by a military-style jacket Hendrix wore and the other with an image of Hendrix in orange, are still for sale.
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