American Apparel has again come off looking insensitive and rude after its foray into plus size clothing with a model search ended in controversy.
The “search for the next BIG thing” (yes big was all in caps) was a campaign where plus size girls uploaded photos of themselves in order to win the chance to become the face of American Apparel’s new plus size clothing line. The winner was to be determined by online voters choosing their favourite model.
What they did not expect was for Carrie Upton to be chosen as the winner by the online voters, as her photos clearly mocked the clothing retailer’s insensitive appeal to larger women. Upton’s photos included herself smothered in chocolate sauce, devouring chicken and even posed like a roast pig, parodying the notion that to American Apparel, plus size women were just overweight slobs.
Upton criticised American Apparel’s attempt to appeal to a larger woman;
“People would have said, “Wow, good for them! How progressive!” But instead, they used cutesy, tired euphemisms and this faux-chummy supportive tone that a lot of people found cheap and insulting. It smacked of that feeling when someone does something well or does a good deed and then nudges you and goes, “See what I did?”"
Apart from the degrading title of the competition, the website included references to plus size women have “full-size fannies” and being “bootylicious”.
While it is unsurprising that American Apparel decided not to feature a woman who openly mocked them, it is clear that by choosing Upton as the winner, women found the campaign insulting and degrading, instead of inspiring and inclusive.
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