A submission to Vans’ popular Global Custom Culture competition that supported the Hong Kong protestors has put the VF brand in the cross hairs of China’s political dispute with backers of the protestors vowing to boycott the brand for removing the design and a number of Hong Kong retailers removing it from their stores.

The design, which depicted several symbols of the protest such as gas masks and yellow helmets, received a strong response from voters in the competition before Vans took it down, explaining that its contest rules did not include the right to make political statements. That was not ... Log in to view full article.