Kim Kardashian West and the Kimono Controversy

Another week, another cultural appropriation controversy. Or so it’s beginning to seem when it comes to fashion and its faux pas.

This time around the lightning rod is Kim Kardashian West’s latest venture, announced on Tuesday: a line of “solutionwear,” itself a creative take on the more typical “shapewear,” which used to be called girdles, and before that corsets. This one happens to be called Kimono.

Turns out Romeo and Juliet had it wrong. When it comes to names, there is a lot involved — at least when attempts at catchy branded wordplay, national heritage and influencer-associated fame collide.

Kimono, a riff on Ms. Kardashian West’s name that is in line with her other brands (Kimoji and KKW Beauty) and what she said in a statement to The New York Times was meant to be “a nod to the beauty and detail that goes into a garment,” quickly became the subject of online charges of ignorant and offensive misuse. Especially because the name was juxtaposed against images by the photographer Vanessa Beecroft of many women of different sizes and colors undressed in the collection.

Ms. Kardashian West said in her statement that she has no plans “to design or release any garments that would in any way resemble or dishonor the traditional garment.” She also has no plans to respond to the reaction by changing the name.

“My solutionwear brand is built with inclusivity and diversity at its core and I’m incredibly proud of what’s to come,” she said. That includes bras, briefs, shorts and bodysuits, among other undergarments.