It’s no secret that the fashion world can often be a body-shaming environment, and many models have battled with extreme cases of eating disorders because of it. Recently, designers have been trying to combat this weight-focused stigma, and make their runways and collections more inclusive of all body types. Well, except for some.
Dolce & Gabbana recently released a new collection that features a $973 sneaker aimed to hit their millennial demographic. To really set this sneaker apart from the rest, it has little messages doodled across the shoe. One phrase has really sparked outraged on social media because of its implicit negativity towards different body shapes. The message on the shoe reads, “I’m thin and gorgeous.”
Even though the design has brought many social media users to comment their disgust with this comment—including one reading, “You don’t have to be thin to be Gorgeous!and thin?! I’m disappointed!”—the designer Stefano Gabbana has not apologized. He even went so far as to reply to a few commenters, calling them “idiots” and “stupid.” One particularly disgusting reply from the designer reads “n u think is better to be fat full of hamburger???” There are no words.
Even though these sneakers are a stark contrast to the inclusivity the fashion world has been trying to push towards lately, it’s really no surprise to see these actions from Gabbana. In the past, he’s directly body-shamed Lady Gaga despite the fact that she has admitted her struggles with an eating disorder. He apologized for that incident, but has yet to admit to the harmful nature of the “thin and gorgeous” message.
Dolce & Gabbana, you can do much better than this!