Plus-size Nike mannequins: recognition of reality or obesity promoters? Critics stir up debate on social media
- ‘She is not size 12, or even 16 … She is immense, gargantuan, vast,’ wrote one critic of sportswear brand’s new mannequins. Social media users soon fired back
- Nike is not the first retailer to make such a move, nor is the criticism new – US brand faced similar attacks when it launched a plus-size collection in 2017
Nike revealed plus-sized and para-sport mannequins in its London store recently, an inclusive move that was widely celebrated for embracing the reality that people come in different shapes and sizes, but also criticised by some.
Writing for British news outlet The Telegraph, journalist Tanya Gold claiming the sportswear brand was promoting obesity – attracting ire for her “fatphobic” take on Nike’s new mannequins.
“I fear that the war on obesity is lost, or has even, as is fashionable, ceased to exist,” Gold wrote. “Yet the new Nike mannequin is not size 12, which is healthy, or even 16 – a hefty weight, yes, but not one to kill a woman. She is immense, gargantuan, vast. She heaves with fat,” Gold wrote.
Twitter users swiftly called out Gold and other critics for their hypocrisy in shaming fat people yet not wanting them to have access to clothing for workouts.
Plus-sized athletes shared their stories too. “Fat athletes exist, we are strongwomen, powerlifters, wrestlers and runners. Fat athletes exist, I know this because I am one and I’m in great company,” wrote one Twitter user.
Nike is not the first clothing retailer to display plus-size mannequins; brands such as Old Navy, Nordstrom and UK department store Debenhams have done so previously.
Social media reaction to Gold’s criticism of Nike’s plus-size mannequins
The sports brand was also accused of promoting obesity when it released its first plus-size collection back in 2017, when popular British blogger Grace Victory was featured in Nike’s advertising campaign for plus-size clothes along with blogger Danielle Vanier, model Paloma Elsesser and US track and field athlete Amanda Bingson.
Victory hit back at critics then, saying: “Fat shaming me and my girl on our Nike campaign is hilarious. We be laughing all the damn way to the bank.”
