Revolve Is Being Slammed for Putting a Thin Model in a Shirt Meant to Highlight Fatphobia

UPDATE (September 13, 2018 7:20 PM): After publication of the original story, a spokesperson from Revolve reached out to Teen Vogue with this statement: "This morning, images of a forthcoming LPA collection were prematurely released on Revolve.com. The capsule collection – originally conceived by LPA alongside Lena Dunham, Emily Ratajkowski, Cara Delevingne, Suki Waterhouse and Paloma Elsesser – was set to debut tomorrow as a direct commentary on the modern day normality of cyber-bullying and the shared desire to create a community for those most affected by the epidemic. Proceeds were set to benefit Girls Write Now, a charity focused on mentoring underserved young women and helping them find their voices and tell their stories through writing.

"The prematurely released images featured on Revolve.com was not only included without context of the overall campaign but regrettably featured one of the pieces on a model who's [sic] size was not reflective of the piece’s commentary on body positivity. We at Revolve sincerely apologize to all those involved – particularly Lena, Emily, Cara, Suki and Paloma – our loyal customers, and the community as a whole for this error.

"The collection has been pulled. We are proud to donate $20,000 to Girls Write Now in the hopes that those who need it can still benefit from what was to be a meaningful, insightful and impactful collaboration by LPA."

Shopping website Revolve is coming under fire for a questionable marketing move. The retailer was selling sweatshirts by clothing brand LPA with the quote “Being fat isn’t beautiful it’s an excuse” on the front, and they have since taken the item down. It’s apparently a comment that plus-size model Paloma Elsesser has heard before — the words “as said to @palomija” are printed below in a much smaller font. While it appears to be an attempt at reclaiming fatphobic messages, many people believe Revolve missed the mark by choosing to put the design on a skinny model and making the quote attribution barely readable.

In a statement to Teen Vogue, Revolve spokesperson Simone Kuhfal said that the images of a forthcoming LPA collection were "prematurely released" on its website. She explained that the capsule collection, which was originally conceived by LPA alongside Paloma, Lena Dunham, Emily Ratajkowski, Cara Delevingne, and Suki Waterhouse, was intended to be "direct commentary on the modern day normality of cyber-bullying and the shared desire to create a community for those most affected by the epidemic." Proceeds were set to benefit Girls Write Now, a charity focused on mentoring underserved young women.

"The prematurely released images featured on Revolve.com was not only included without context of the overall campaign but regrettably featured one of the pieces on a model whose size was not reflective of the piece’s commentary on body positivity," Kuhfal said. "We at Revolve sincerely apologize to all those involved – particularly Lena, Emily, Cara, Suki, and Paloma – our loyal customers, and the community as a whole for this error. The collection has been pulled." Kufhal continued, saying, "We are proud to donate $20,000 to Girls Write Now in the hopes that those who need it can still benefit from what was to be a meaningful, insightful, and impactful collaboration by LPA."

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Despite Revolve's intentions, the internet had a lot to say about the actual impact of the piece. The sweatshirt currently has a rating of 1.2 stars (out of five) on its product page, with many consumers expressing their outrage about Revolve’s decision to sell an item that seemingly perpetuates body negativity. One person called the move “heinous” and wrote, “If this is supposed to be a range of jumpers that points out hate of body types…it's doing the exact opposite…the message is not clear…it's insulting!” Another added, “Zero stars weren’t an option so I had to go with one. I can’t decide if you’re fat shaming or skinny shaming or both. Whatever it is, it’s disgusting, why are you sending negative messages to women about their bodies?”

On Instagram, reactions were just as vocal. London-based artist and social advocate Florence Given posted a screenshot of the sweatshirt in question, and people quickly chimed in with their perspectives. One commenter called the whole fiasco “horrendous,” and another person put it bluntly, “This is disgusting! Really unbelievable. Really toxic!” Florence also reached out to Paloma, who told her that she is "mortified."

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