Los Angeles-based clothing line Revolve really stepped in it by adding a new sweatshirt to its online store featuring the phrase, “Being fat is not beautiful, it’s an excuse.”
The rail-thin model wearing the offensive shirt only made it more insulting.
The sweatshirt is part of a clothing line that’s a spectacularly-botched attempt to combat fat-shaming by featuring statements that have been directed at stars such as Lena Dunham (“Horrible Result of Modern Feminism”) and Cara Delevingne (“Too boney to be boned”).
The line is a collaboration between Revolve, LPA and others, including Dunham, Delevingne, and curvy model Paloma Elsesser.
The “fat is not beautiful” statement was once sent to Elesser by an online troll.
While calling out fat-shamers with their own statements seems like an empowering strategy, the Revolve campaign appears horribly regressive when taken out of context.
Who in their right mind would see someone wearing a shirt that says, “Being fat is not beautiful, it’s an excuse,” and think, “That’s an incredibly-inclusive shirt you got there!”
Revolve has attempted to crawl back into the public’s good graces by apologizing for the mishap and pledging $20,000 to Girls Write Now.
“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 size was not reflective of the piece’s commentary on body positivity,” the brand said in a statement.
“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,” Revolve continued.
Dunham, who has a long history of promoting body positivity, has exited the collaboration.
“Without consulting me or any of the women involved, @revolve presented the sweatshirts on thin white women, never thinking about the fact that difference and individuality is what gets you punished on the Internet, or that lack of diversity in representation is a huge part of the problem (in fact, the problem itself.),” she said on Instagram. “As a result, I cannot support this collaboration or lend my name to it in any way.”
