Clothes brand gets 100 complaints a day that models are 'too fat'

Online clothing peddler Snag is swimming in over 100 complaints a day because—brace yourself—their models aren’t skeletal enough for the internet’s taste. CEO Brigitte Read spilled to the BBC that her size 4-38 lineup’s mannequins get daily doses of “hateful” fat-shaming venom.

The mess bubbled up in an online squabble over banning “unhealthily plump” models, ignited when Next’s ad got the axe for parading a waif so thin she looked like a breeze might snap her. The UK’s ad overlords at the ASA, who’ve banned twiggy models for years because thin is apparently society’s holy grail, clocked 61 gripes about weight in 2024—mostly “too skinny” sobs. Only eight warranted a peek, and Snag wasn’t on the naughty list.

Enter Catherine Thom, a 36-year-old Edinburgh busybody, who cried foul after the Next ban. “It’s pure hypocrisy—skinny’s ‘irresponsible,’ but obese is ‘body positivity’?” she bleated to the BBC, echoing a Reddit mob’s 1,000-plus rants. “Snag bombarded me with fat girls in tights when I was pregnant—why’s that okay when Next’s starved waif isn’t? Fair’s fair!”

Snag’s queen bee Read clapped back: “Bullying big folks doesn’t shrink them—it just bloats their shrink bills.” She calls the ban chatter “fat phobia” run amok, with 12 of her 100 minions scrubbing troll tears to polish the positivity parade. “Chubby people live, shop, and deserve to see their clones in ads. Size doesn’t trash your VIP pass.”

Sophie Scott, a 27-year-old Scots salon diva modeling Snag’s 24-26 range, gets the full “gorgeous” or “go starve” spectrum. “I was a 30 once—still catch flak. Haters say I’m a walking heart attack, but they don’t clock my squats. If one gal says I freed her wardrobe, trolls can choke on it.”

ASA’s Jess Tye smirked: “Of 35,000 yearly moans, 61 hit weight—thin’s the dream, fat’s not. We only snoop if it’s ‘aspire to expire’ vibes.” Fashion scribe Victoria Moss groaned: “Size 14-16’s UK average, yet retailers peddle 10-12 as ‘plus.’ Thinspiration’s a cult; no one’s gorging to match Snag’s gals.”

Snag struts on, trolls type on, and Next’s banned stick-figure sulks in the shadows.