The UK boss behind the ultimate bodycon dress has caused major controversy, after issuing a set of ‘rules’ on what kind of customer should be wearing a Herve Leger dress.
The brand’s UK managing director Patrick Couderc declared during a newspaper interview that if you’re voluptuously figured, old or lesbian, that he didn’t want you wearing their dress design.
Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, Couderc said:
“You women have a lot of problems. You will lose the plot. You will come and you will put a dress on and you’ll be in front of the mirror, like, “Argh, I’m so fat.”
“Yes, you have a 12th of an inch around your stomach, it’s not really a disaster, and what you’re not noticing is that your cleavage is about two inches too low because you are 55 and it’s time that you should not display everything like you’re 23.”
Adding further insult to injury, he continued that lesbians aren’t a natural fit for the brand, rolling out a stereotype in explaining his theory:
“If you’re a committed lesbian and you are wearing trousers all your life, you won’t want to buy a Leger dress. Lesbians would want to be rather butch and leisurely.”
Couderc then continued that he shuns women who don’t wear tights, claiming it shows a lack of social class:
“I have an expression which I attach to girls: I never go out to dinner if she’s not wearing tights. I think hosiery is something which is very magical in my world and I’m veering off into complete poetry now. But it’s a social statement because in the 1980s, the difference between someone who was wearing tights and someone who was not was very significant.
“Whoever was wearing tights was working in a private office in a bank in St James’s and whoever was not wearing tights was coming to work as a shampooist in a High Street hairdresser, commuting from Croydon.
“We were living in a time where the distinction between the two social strata was much more significant than today.”
What might be even more shocking is that the brand manager believed his comments could help women struggling with body image issues, as it would save them the hassle of attempting to try one of his company’s designs.
Following a huge backlash to the article, the Herve Leger by Max Azria brand issued the following statement today:
‘The Herve Leger by Max Azria brand and its parent company, BCBGMAXAZRIA Group, are shocked and appalled by Patrick Couderc’s comments made in the Mail on Sunday. BCBGMAXAZRIA Group is working in concert with MJH Fashion, the London-based licensee of the Herve Leger brand, to investigate and establish appropriate next steps.’
‘The statements made by Mr. Couderc are not a reflection of Herve Leger by Max Azria or MJH Fashion ideals or sentiments. The Herve Leger by Max Azria brand celebrates sensuality, glamour and femininity without discrimination.’
Hat tip: Metro UK via Mail On Sunday
