Should we all be surprised that yet another company has gone and made an offensive article of clothing? At this point, maybe not. In today's news of foolish retailers, Canada's popular Hudson Bay Company has pulled a shirt that featured Kate Moss' popular quote, "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels." Seriously, how did they think that this was going to turn out good?
What's worse is that the white shirt — which was designed by art director and pop artist Christopher Sauve — didn't just highlight the anti-eating quote, it also placed it under a zero-calorie nutrition label, further making this shirt a virtual promotional piece for eating disorders around the world.
The shirt was barely on the market for long before the company realized how huge of a mistake it was to let these hit the shelves. They released the following statement: “We truly value our relationship with our customers and take their concerns seriously and we recognize that many took offense to the item,” said a statement the Bay issued to the Star. “In this particular instance, while we respect the designer’s art, due to the overwhelming response and the sensitivity of the matter, we made the decision to promptly remove the T-shirts from our stores and from thebay.com.”
Of course, this was spurred by shoppers who quickly took to their Twitter accounts using the hashtags #NotBuyingIt and #YoureFired.
However, amongst the uproarious protesters were a handful of supporters who believe the shirt is a piece of art, especially because it was designed by Christopher Sauve.
"Outsiders won't get it"? Pretty sure this quote is all over Tumblr, but okay. Oh, and wait. The drama continues. Designer Christopher Sauve released a statement defending his shirt, saying it does not promote eating disorders at all and in fact, does the complete opposite.
"I am being bombarded with hate mail, tweets, Facebook messages from people protesting my design 'Nothing Tastes As Good As Skinny Feels' selling at The Hudson Bay and Patricia Field. The design was not intended to be pro-anorexia but the opposite. Clearly the nutritional label that is on the t-shirt states that you are not consuming any calories or nutrition by not eating therefor Kate Moss statement from 2009 is ridiculous and therefor the t-shirt is a protest against her actions and the absurd remarks that occur in the fashion industry as all of my work portrays."
And because what you're really trying to say can be lost in a press statement, the designer decided to go ahead and tweet out how he really felt.
I really believe that Sauve's intention was to ridicule the fashion industry and its stick thin models, but I just don't think that his shirt is doing that. It glamorizes Moss' quote and sadly, most of the impressionable young people who are struggling with eating disorders would probably identify with the shirt more than believe it's a protest against it.
The shirt is still available on Sauve's site, along with a handful of his other controversial tees, including one that features Terry Richardson's face with text that reads: "I was touched by Terry." Hilarious, Sauve.
Image: The Hudson Bay
