‘Being Fat Is Not Beautiful’ – Revolve Releases Controversial Sweatshirt

‘Being Fat Is Not Beautiful’ – Revolve Releases Controversial Sweatshirt

Online retailer, Revolve, is under fire for a sweatshirt with a controversial message.

Tess Holliday

Plus-sized model Tess Holliday made the first notable mention of the poorly-executed messaging on the sweatshirt. Pictured on a young, thin, Caucasian model, the Paloma sweatshirt reads:

“Being fat is not beautiful. It’s an excuse.”

Tess Holliday tweeted, clearly offended by the product:

LOLLLLL @REVOLVE y’all are a mess. pic.twitter.com/CrzOkd5oE4

— Tess Holliday ? (@Tess_Holliday) September 12, 2018

Reportedly, the sweatshirt was the first of many from an LPA collaboration collection, highlighting a few shaming comments hurled at female celebrities to raise awareness on cyber-bullying and shaming. These were to include the fat-shaming statement previously shown directed at model Paloma Elsesser; the “horrible result of modern feminism” insult towards actress Lena Dunham; and “too boney to be boned,” hurled at supermodel Cara Delevigne.

Lena Dunham

Lena Dunham, 32, known for endorsing body positivity, issued a statement denouncing her involvement with Revolve’s collaboration collection. She said:

“For months I’ve been working on a collaboration with LPA through parent company @revolve – sweatshirts that highlight quotes from prominent women who have experienced internet trolling & abuse. This is a cause very close to my heart and the proceeds were meant to benefit charities that help young women by empowering them to express themselves through writing and art.”

She continued:

“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.) As a result, I cannot support this collaboration or lend my name to it in any way.”

Revolve has since issued an apologetic statement on the listing, and suggested a generous peace offering for their mistake. The statement reads:

“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. 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.”

They continued:

“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.”

Will you continue to shop with Revolve?

Written by Miata Shanay