American Apparel has come back into the spotlight for their controversial advertising after watchdogs banned an image, saying it sexualises children. The American retailer used four images of a young teen model to showcase a patterned thong bodysuit, with one of the images clearly displaying the young girl’s buttocks on site. According to the UK Advertising Standards, the suggestive pose is even more alarming when the model used looks considerably young: “We considered the model had a youthful appearance and that some consumers were likely to regard her as being younger than 16 years of age.” The regulation board added: “The model was shown looking back at the camera over her shoulder with her buttocks visible. We considered that readers were likely to interpret the model’s expression and pose as being sexual in nature. “In conjunction with the youthful appearance of the model, we considered the ad could be seen to sexualise a child. We therefore concluded that the ad was irresponsible and was likely to cause serious offence.” American Apparel has denied the accusations, confirming the model was 20- years old when the shots were taken, and that the image of the thong bodysuit was one in a series and had been repeated in previous campaigns on their website. This is the second time the American retailer has been targeted for sexualising children, after their ‘back to school’ campaign was pulled after being deemed as ‘underage porn’.