Topshop under fire after shockingly skinny mannequin photo surfaces on Twitter

5^th November 2014

Emily Harris

Emily Harris

5 November 2014

Topshop received a backlash of criticism last week regarding the size of their mannequins after a customer photographed her size 8/10 friend standing next to one of the scarily thin figures.

Becky Hopper, a 23-year-old from Hull has received almost 10,000 retweets and a tremendous amount of support after the photograph rapidly went viral, further encouraging others to notice the use of these tiny mannequins in a vast quantity of popular high street stores including budget retail giant, Primark, sparking debate over the morals attached to their use.

Miss Hopper has accused the store of being “irresponsible” with the dummies in question being a “poor misrepresentation of the female body”. Numerous news platforms along with celebrities such as Katie Piper and ex-Emmerdale star Gemma Oaten who once suffered from anorexia, have shown their support through further criticising the negative body image portrayed.

Topshop have responded to the social media storm, albeit quite hesitantly, stating that they have long “made it a priority to showcase a healthy size image” affirming that their mannequins “are based on a standard UK size 10”. However, many Twitter respondents have argued that this simply can’t be true. The fashion chain have also attempted to dismiss any criticism on their half, endeavouring to refocus the blame on the manufacturer of the mannequins, indicating their size is out of their control and not their responsibility. When we caught up with Becky on Twitter regarding her thoughts of the statement, she felt that it was “far from sufficient”.

Nevertheless, Becky along with her friend, Georgia Bibby have clearly done their piece to make a stand on the ever concerning issue of body image and are undoubtedly gratified with the debate they have managed to generate. “We’re overwhelmed by the response. We aren’t out to shame skinny girls – far from it. We’re hoping to encourage Topshop to show a more diverse range of mannequins. All sizes should be celebrated.”

Emily Harris