Arnold Putra, a controversial Indonesian designer/influencer has been mostly known for his shocking and grisly fashion choices. However, he has come out to deny that he had anything to do with fresh allegations of involvement in international trafficking of human body parts.
Vice World News reported yesterday that the Brazilian Federal Police had been made aware of a human hand and three packets of human placenta being packed and shipped off from the Amazonas state capital of Manaus to Singapore, allegedly with Arnold as the intended recipient.
An anti-human trafficking operation was conducted on Tuesday morning, during which authorities carried out a raid at the anatomy lab of Amazonas State University (UEA) in Manaus after receiving a tip-off. They said the organs were bound “for a famous Indonesian designer who sells accessories and clothing using materials of human origin.”
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With arguably no one of note in Indonesia fitting that description, Arnold released a statement via his attorneys today, who denied the allegations while stressing that he is an “artist” and that he “does not have a fashion company or business established anywhere in the world.”
“The whole public narrative about my background and my creative work has been built on speculation and uninformed opinions with almost no substantive background research by those who have been writing about and discussing me,” Arnold said in the statement, as received by Coconuts.
Arnold also claimed that the pieces he has created over the past five years have been personal projects “with absolutely no intent to profit or commercialize them whatsoever nor are they made by myself,” including the human spine bag as it was “a piece of artwork.”
“Other than a spine and a couple ribs to make that handbag and one other garment, I have never used or possessed human organs to create other fashion pieces or other artworks. It is unfortunate that the desire to encourage negative or ‘controversial’ perceptions of my artwork is steering opinions of an audience who really should be free to make up their own minds and not just coaxed on to condemn the artist.”
Arnold also denied several reports of him obtaining the bones or organs from indigenous communities, and as previously reported two years ago, he maintained that he procured the bones through “a licensed medical supply store in Canada who also operates in the United States.”
Before this latest controversy, Arnold raised eyebrows in Indonesia when he wore an outfit disturbingly similar to that of right-wing paramilitary group Pemuda Pancasila (Pancasila Youth) at the Paris Haute Couture Week late last month.
Donning a matching black-and-orange camouflage hat, jacket, and pants, Arnold was seen hanging out with French culture and fashion figure Michèle Lamy and her husband American designer Rick Owens, rapper Kanye West and his now-ex girlfriend actress Julia Fox, and rapper Pusha T, among others.
Arnold appears to be in Singapore, based on recent Instagram posts by his fiancée Ariel Brasali, daughter of property mogul Budi Brasali. He told Vice that he will be in the island state for Lunar New Year Celebrations in February, though he didn’t respond to follow-up questions regarding his visit.
National Police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo said today that they have yet to receive confirmation from the Brazilian Federal Police regarding the package of human remains.
“As a proactive move, the Interpol office in Jakarta will ask for information from Interpol in Brazil regarding that info,” Dedi said.
