In a fiery Instagram Live, University of South Carolina basketball coach Dawn Staley, 54, unleashed a cultural critique against American Eagle Outfitters. Fresh off her team’s undefeated 2024 season, Staley slammed the retailer’s “Great Jeans” campaign for featuring actress Sydney Sweeney over WNBA star Angel Reese. “Jeans were made by us, for us. They’re part of Black history,” she declared, demanding a national apology and threatening boycott.
The July 2025 ad, taglined “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans”—a pun on “genes”—drew fire for its perceived eugenics nod and white-centric focus. Staley highlighted denim’s roots: Enslaved Black laborers stitched early 1800s prototypes for Levi Strauss, fueling America’s workwear legacy later amplified by hip-hop. “They picked her over Angel? A white woman with no connection to this legacy?” she fumed. “Black hands stitched the first jeans, and now American Eagle acts like Sydney invented denim.”
Reese, a Chicago Sky icon known for bold fashion, hasn’t directly called for boycott—viral claims attributing her outrage are debunked hoaxes
Yet, she amplified Staley’s message on X: “Our culture built this. Time to see us in it.” Supporters like Megan Thee Stallion rallied with #JeansForUs, surging to 2.5 million impressions and a Change.org petition topping 100,000 signatures. American Eagle’s stock dipped 3%, urban stores saw 12% traffic drops.
Sweeney dismissed the uproar in GQ: “It’s just jeans—lighten up,” later adding, “I’m sorry people felt hurt.” The brand expressed “regret for unintended offense” but won’t pull ads, opting for “listening sessions.”
Staley’s stand reignites debates on cultural erasure in fashion. “Apologize nationally, feature Angel, or lose the culture you’re profiting from,” she warned. As holiday shopping looms, this denim dust-up spotlights who truly owns America’s iconic fabric—and at what cost.
