British retailer John Lewis, famed for their annual creative Christmas adverts, have come under fire after allegedly stocking a bra and knickers set aimed at toddlers.
The department store sold a vintage print rose and floral bra measuring just 20inches around the chest – a size children charities and parents claim match that of an average two to three year old toddler.
The underwear set was being sold both in-store and online as part of the John Lewis ‘Girl’ range, but has been heavily criticised for sexualising young girls.
Speaking to the Mail Online, Siobhan Freegard, founder of the UK’s largest parenting website Netmums, said:
“There’s no need for a bra measuring 20 inches. It’s unnecessary and unsavoury to ask tiny girls to dress in replicas of women’s underwear.
“Some may try to justify it saying it’s for little girls who want to copy their mums – but we shouldn’t be encouraging toddlers to be body-conscious.”
Other children’s charities branded the clothing ‘disturbing’ and called on the store to remove the underwear.
A spokesman for John Lewis said the labelling had been a mistake, and the bras were instead intended for the pre-teen market:
“Bras are designed to stretch, so our 28a bra will fit a 28-inch chest even if it measures at a smaller size when on the hanger.
‘We sell bras by size and not by age and the products are clearly marked in this way and labelled by size in our shops. An error occurred when the product was put on our website, meaning that it was categorized by age and not size. This was corrected straight away.”
The underwear collection has since been removed from the online site, with the stock being pulled from stores.
Story via Mail Online
