Clothing retailer Boohoo has been accused of “photoshopping” a size 10 model to make her waist appear thinner in a product photo on its website.
Ella Thorpe, 25, from Manchester, was shopping online when she spotted a difference between two photographs of the same model wearing the same skirt on Boohoo’s website.
She told HuffPost UK she assumed the company had made an “error” by uploading “both the original and edited version”.
“The product description on their app states that the model is a size 10, so why they felt the need to slim her down is a mystery,” she told HuffPost UK.
A Boohoo spokesperson told HuffPost UK: “We thank you for bringing this issue to our attention. At Boohoo our customer commitment is to provide great fashion for all shapes and sizes. We want to do all we can to use our voice to promote body positivity whilst expanding our ‘fashion for all’ offer even further. We are looking into what has happened in this instance.”
It is unclear whether Boohoo had altered the original image to make it smaller or to make it bigger.
However, Thorpe told HuffPost UK that the apparent alterations meant Boohoo was not sending a positive message to young women about body confidence. She also pointed that out in the image featuring the smaller waist, the model’s right earring appeared to have been edited out.
“I think as a brand with such a big influence on young women in particular, who stock clothes for a range of body types, including plus size, Boohoo shouldn’t be altering the body shape of any of their models,” she said.
“The fact they felt the need to edit the waist of a size 10 model is completely unacceptable. Many women of all ages feel pressured to look perfect... If a brand like Boohoo that claims to represent and support ”#AllGirls” is slimming down a model who is three dress sizes smaller than the UK average, what kind of message does that send out?”
It is not the first time that Boohoo has been criticised over body image. HuffPost UK has seen several tweets by customers in the past week claiming to be unhappy with the apparent size of its plus-size models.
They claimed featuring women who were not, in their opinion, representative of average plus size women was “damaging” and “disappointing”.
Last year, the company was also criticised by customers for featuring a model who they claimed was a size 12 to showcase its plus size range. It was also slammed at the launch of its #AllGirls inclusive campaign in 2017 for featuring only one “curve” model.