"Being Fat Is Not Beautiful, It's An Excuse" Sweatshirt: Actually Bad

Kate9/12/2018 10:54 PM

Sometimes companies post things that get taken out of context and/or post something incredibly shortsighted and dumb despite dozens of people seeing it first & somehow not realizing they should absolutely stop it. There are endless examples, but for a quick one I present you with Adidas last year:

Obviously we’ve never experienced anything like that here at Barstool, but this week such is the case with fashion site Revolve. They released images of a new collection meant to create a dialogue about cyber-bullying by using awful quotes from trolls said to actual models and actresses… but Ah-YIKES did they miss the context mark:

The quote on the shirt, “Being fat is not beautiful, it’s an excuse,” was commented to the lovely & successful model Paloma Elsesser…

… but for some reason, instead of having her model the shirt or posting with a message/woman of similar build, they chose a ‘sample size’ woman and zero explanation. One of the first to call them out was model Tess Holliday and thousands have followed suit.

Overall I’d say pretty tone-deaf on Revolve’s part, especially considering the site usually doesn’t carry anything over a size 10. Feels like it was just an empty gesture for publicity, but going off the statement they released it looks like at least some good will come out of it for the Girls Write Now organization.

9.12.18 – This morning, images of a forth coming LPA collection were prematurely released on Revolve.com. The capsule collection – originally conceived by LPA alongside Lena Dunham, Paloma Elsesser and other inspiring women – 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 image 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. We at Revolve sincerely apologize to all those involved – particularly Lena, Paloma, our other collaborators – 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.

Think it was smart for them to pull the collection right away & regroup. In closing, it’s worth noting that here we embrace everyone of every size and 2XL is available in the very best gear.