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Where Fashion And Opioids Meet On The Runway

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at WVU chapter.

“The Act” actress Patricia Arquette grabbed the attention of the public on the Emmy’s red carpet after carrying a silver ornate bag that held a lot of controversy. 

Photo courtesy of @annabelleharron on IG.

The face behind the bag is Joss Sackler, a new designer whose fashion career stemmed from a member’s club named LBV that she created for wealthy New York socialites and acquaintances. However, Sackler is better known for marrying into the family of Purdue Pharma–the creators of the infamous painkiller OxyContin and the pharmaceutical company often held responsible for the North American opioid crisis

Many fashion leaders, critics and followers are very vocally denouncing the LBV brand, while others question why people are scorning Sackler for her family connections. Regardless, Sackler’s affiliation with the Purdue name has tampered with her reputation as a businesswoman.

According to Page Six, it is unclear whether or not Arquette or her stylists knew about the origins of the bag she handled. 

Photo courtesy of @josssackler on IG.

Arquette is not the only celebrity caught up in the discussion.

Two weeks before the Emmy’s, Sackler hosted an LBV show during New York Fashion Week and offered over $100,000 to American musician and recovering opioid addict Courtney Love to sit front row. Love hastily declined. 

“I’m sober, but I will always be an opioid addict,” Love said on her Instagram. “It doesn’t vanish.” 

Since the day of the LBV fashion show, Love’s Instagram has been dedicated to shaming the Purdue name, posting screenshots of scandal-related articles, social media posts and photos of Sackler. 

Photo courtesy of @courtneylove on IG.

Love calls Sackler the “face of the American opioid crisis–fashion edition” in one post.

“Ugh . So sad. Wiping out the values of a great woman with one sneaky assed bunch of money to @tukeconsulting @annabelleharron etc or influence peddling, or whatever it was. Disgusting.” Love wrote on an Instagram post under a photo of Arquette holding the LBV purse. 

“@patriciaarquette my dad died by opioids it’s low to wear a sackler,” Annakim Violette Petty, daughter of the late Tom Petty, commented under the same post. 

Photo courtesy of @courtneylove on IG.

Love and Petty are just two other figures getting involved in the Sackler-scrutiny. 

Sackler and her team told Love in a message that the family “is the only Pharma company to put forth upward of 8 figures toward supporting addicts.” The same message read, “The brand has no relation to Purdue Pharma other than Joss Sackler is related to the family.”

Vanity Fair said that when a reporter covering Sackler’s clothing line asked about the Purdue family name, she snapped back, “Stop talking about who the men in my life are and review the f*cking neon hoodies.”

 

Edited by Kenzie Dye

 

Olivia Gianettino is a freshman honors journalism student at West Virginia University. Besides writing, she loves playing the banjo, making crafts and doing yoga. She is a year-round Halloween enthusiast and sports a pair of yellow Crocs everywhere she goes.
Rachel is a graduate student at WVU majoring in journalism with minors in Appalachian studies, history and political science. In addition to writing for Her Campus, she is also a publicity intern for Arts and Entertainment and a news intern for Univerisity Relations. She is from Princeton, West Virginia and loves her state and its beautiful mountains. She is passionate about many things including dogs, musicals and the Mountaineers.